Jimmy & Kyo
by BigD1987
Summary: It's a new beginning for Kyo as he begins his college football career at the University of Central Florida. But with a roommate by the name of Jimmy Michaels and crazy hi jinks on the UCF campus, this year should get pretty interesting...
1. Moving In

Jimmy & Kyo, chapter 1: Moving In

Orlando International Airport, Florida

Kyo Sohma stepped off the plane and into the gate at Orlando Airport and onto American soil for the first time in his life. There was an excited feeling in his gut, almost the same rush he felt when the Sohma Curse broke a few months ago. After the Curse was broken, he was allowed to come here to the United States and pursue his dream. And it wasn't martial arts.

It was football.

That's right, you heard me! Kyo in this story is an American football player. You see two years ago, after watching an American football game on TV he decided to try it out. Thanks to help from former NFL cornerback and Japanese native Sadaharu Fuji, he became a good wide receiver. He already had some speed and agility, and all he needed to do was bulk up a bit, which he did-without steroids, of course. But a few months ago, a man showed up at Shigure's house on the Sohma property. And I must tell you that at this time, the Sohma Curse was not broken. Eventually the curse was broken, but some months later. The man was University of Central Florida head coach George O' Leary. His team had just come off a successful season in which they won the Conference-USA Championship for the second year in a row and won the AutoZone Liberty Bowl that January behind freshman quarterback Jimmy Michaels. And O' Leary had an offer Kyo couldn't refuse. It wasn't one of those offers you see in mafia movies, it was an offer he didn't _want_ to refuse. Basically, O' Leary offered Kyo a free ride. Kyo took the offer, but with one major condition:

"Wow, America!" said Kyo's girlfriend Tohru Honda. Kyo told O' Leary that the only way he would come to the States to play was if Tohru got a scholarship, as well. Well, she's in America with him, so you see how that went. "I can't believe we're finally here, Kyo-kun!" It had been a _very _long flight from Japan; so naturally, Tohru was excited to finally land. But of course, the both would have to deal with some massive jet lag later on.

"Neither can I," said, trying to hide the growing excitement growing inside. Football season was some ways away, but he was here for the summer training camp for the UCF football team. He had managed to find a Sohma relative to stay with until he could move into the dorms for the first time. And no, that relative was not a member of the Zodiac.

Orlando Airport amazed the two young migrants as soon as they took a look at its architecture. The airport utilized a literal glass ceiling that allowed the Central Florida sun to shine in the terminal and the main part of the airport. But clearing customs would be a nightmare. Prior to their arrival, both of them had to get visas so they could enter the United States and stay there for an extended period of time. By accident, they got immigrant visas, because they both filled out the wrong forms. Oops. Customs, as stated previously, was a nightmare. It was so bad that it took nearly an hour to get through. Sure, that sounds a little extreme, but in the end, they made it past Customs and into the United States. But what made it worse was that they had to go through border preclearance while in Canada (more on that later)! Talk about a nightmare! The airport also had a monorail that connected to gates to the terminal that Tohru personally found interesting. It was the middle of the day in Central Florida, and there was not a cloud in the sky. As they rode the monorail, Kyo sat silently while Tohru, in her eagerness, looked out at America for the first time in her life. _Mom,_ she thought. _I hope you're proud of me. What am I saying, of course you are with me. I've made it to America, mom! And I'm with the one I love._

"Are we done yet?" asked an exhausted Tohru. I guess things change quickly.

A just as exhausted Kyo said, "We still have to get our luggage. Now why don't you just enjoy the scenery for now?" The main terminal of the airport amazed them even more, especially when they noticed a hotel in the middle of it!

Finally, they had to get their luggage. Even that was a nightmare. Tohru had brought too much stuff with her, probably 3 or 4 suitcases total! Kyo also brought a few extra items, including his football gear. Since he was a wide receiver, he had to have shoulder pads that could allow movement, but also protection, because he was going to be hit pretty hard.

_Finally_, after goodness-knows-how-long, they left the airport terminal and into America. The two were on the west side of the terminal because that's where the carrier, Air Canada, had come from. For some reason, they had to go to Toronto, because they couldn't get a flight to LA since they flight they needed was booked. So, they had to take Japan Airlines to Toronto Pearson International and then transfer from there to an Air Canada flight to Orlando. And yes, it was confusing. But they were finally out of there and waiting for Yuki's cousin, Makoto, who was not a member of the Zodiac. About two minutes after stepping out of the terminal, Makoto drove up in his SUV (great timing) to help load Kyo and Tohru's things into his car.

"That's a lot of stuff," said Makoto. "You're really planning on staying here?"

"I got a full ride to UCF," Kyo replied while trying to stuff one of Tohru's suitcases into the car. "I should be here a while." Makoto looked a bit like Ayame, but with much shorter and darker hair.

Tohru sat in the back of Makoto's SUV while they drove to his house in Orlando. Kyo meanwhile, rode shotgun with Makoto.

"So you know what you're getting into, Kyo?" asked Makoto.

"Yeah, I do," said Kyo. "Why do you ask?"

"A lot of these guys who play college football here in America are a lot bigger than the players in Japan. Sure, you probably faced a few players in Japan who were as big as an NFL player, but this is NCAA Division I we're talking about."

"So you watch football?" asked Kyo.

"It comes with living here in Florida," said Makoto. "They say in the Southeastern United States that college football is practically a religion, and that's no different here in Florida. The Gators, who play in Gainesville, have won two national championships in the past three years."

"What about UCF?" asked Kyo. You might as well get some information about your own team.

"Well, they were pretty close to an undefeated season last year," said Makoto. "But they fell short in a game against UTEP and although they won their conference championship, they couldn't play in a BCS bowl game." Kyo, having studied what football is like in America, knew what Makoto was talking about. Tohru, on the other hand, didn't even know what Makoto was talking about.

"Uumm, excuse me?" She asked. "What does BCS stand for?"

"Bowl Championship Series," said Kyo. "It's a system used by the NCAA to determine the top team in NCAA Division I-A. And it's very controversial."

"Oh, okay," she said. She still didn't know what that meant, but she was too tired to continue her line of inquiry.

"Do you want to know about your quarterback?" asked Makoto.

"Sure," said Kyo.

"His name's Jimmy Michaels. He's not from Florida, he's from the Chicago area, and he's really good."

"How good?" Kyo tried to verify.

"Like I said, they almost went undefeated. That should tell you how good he is. He basically has both a strong arm and a sharp mind, and can read defenses like a book."

"Wow, he's that good?" asked Kyo. "Sounds like a Mary Sue (A/N: I'm having some fun here)".

"At first glance, he seems like one," said Makoto. "But I haven't gotten to know him, but he has made mistakes." Kyo nodded. They _almost _went undefeated, which implied that Michaels must have made some mistakes at some point during the UTEP game. "But of course, you have to realize that unlike you, he's been playing football since he was four years old." Kyo was dumbstruck. Four years old? No wonder he was so good! If you've been playing for most of your life, then you're bound to be among the best; compared to Kyo, who had only been playing for two years. Of course, Kyo also had some abilities Kazuma taught him. He was already fast and agile, so that helped, and he also had some fantastic endurance. He just needed to bulk up, which he did. Compared to the scrawny, in a sense, Kyo that was first introduced, Kyo had gotten bigger muscularly and in terms of height so that he could play football. But since he had only two years playing experience under his belt, he'd have to prove himself big time.

"What about the receiver corps?" he asked next.

"It's supposed to be pretty good," said Makoto. "But their star receiver from last year Demetrous Williams has gone to the NFL, so there's a gaping hole that needs to be filled. But they've got some pretty good receivers, like David Marley, who's from Atlanta, Georgia, he's one of their better receivers. You also have Jim Oakley from a small town in southern Illinois who's also very good, in fact he made the third-most catches last year behind Marley and Williams. Of course, they also have two other receivers, John Howard and Louis Goldman who graduated last year. But Byron Johnson and Josh Stevens make up the remainder of the receivers. They also have some new recruits coming in, not including you, who are supposed to be very good." Kyo listened intently to Makoto's words. Considering the guys who were coming in, he had his work cut out for him.

This was going to be a long summer.

:-:-:-:-:

It _was_a long summer. In the intense Florida heat, Kyo worked and slogged his way through the summer practice sessions and training camp. The other players, who had been playing most of their lives, mind you, would barely speak to Kyo because they didn't think he belonged there. Although some of the other players tried to ease things up for him, including the brown-haired quarterback, which he assumed to be Jimmy Michaels, he almost came close to quitting. But after a pep talk from Tohru, he began to perform harder, impressing the coaches. Finally, the summer practice and training camp ended, and he and Tohru were ready to begin their college careers at UCF.

Makoto helped Kyo and Tohru move into their apartments. They were both living in the same building, Tower Four at Knights Plaza, so he didn't have to do as much to help them move in. Over the course of the summer, Kyo and Tohru had gotten used to the time zone and America a little bit, but they were still suffering from culture shock. And they would continue to do so. After Kyo and Tohru were moved in and Makoto left, they began to get used to the fact that they were now technically alone in the United States. But the thought both frightened and excited them. Of course, they had each other, but Tohru didn't have Uo-chan or Saki to help her out in times of trouble, but she did know she could count on Kyo just in case. It was August 21, 2009; the first official day of their new lives in the United States. The previous days in summer didn't count. But Kyo's roommate hadn't showed up yet, nor Tohru's. So, they asked their RA where their roommates were.

"They're probably moving in tomorrow," said the RA. "I'm not sure why, though. It's probably for personal reasons."

As Kyo and Tohru slept that night, they wondered what their roommates were like. Were they interesting? Would they be friends? Would they hate each other's guts? But they also had to get used to the bathrooms. American bathrooms aren't like Japanese bathrooms, particularly since there is no _furo_, which is a Japanese bathtub. Instead, the showers were the only thing available. Kind of screws up your traditional bathing rituals, doesn't it? That was basically the first item of culture shock. And believe me, there were a lot more to come!

Kyo had to respect the UCF air conditioning. Dealing with the intense Florida heat can take a lot out of a guy, even if they are pretty tough. Kyo had grown a bit emotionally after the Curse ended as well. He wasn't as brash as he used to be, but he still had a bit of a temper that could match anybody's. But whether or not it'd match his roommate's was another thing.

So, on to the business of the roommates. That morning, Kyo got up around 10:00 while Tohru had been up earlier, around 9:00. Since it was a Saturday, they both just sat and watched TV until their roommates arrived. That came soon. Around noon, Kyo heard his door open. _Must be my roommate,_ he thought to himself. He was eagerly waiting who it was. Was it another football player? The question was answered as soon as his roommate was in the two-bedroom apartment. Kyo's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in shock as he saw who it was. The roommate also showed shock on his face when he saw Kyo. It was...

"Aren't you that Japanese kid from training camp?" He asked. The roommate was wearing a Chicago Bears cap while wearing a 'Liberty Bowl Champions' shirt. He was well-built, had medium-length brown hair and brown eyes and a very small tan that was barely noticeable.

"Aren't you Jimmy Michaels?" Kyo asked in complete shock. The quarterback was his roommate? What an odd coincidence!

"Yeah, but you didn't answer my question," said Jimmy. "Are you that Japanese kid?"

"Yeah, I'm that Japanese kid," He said.

"Okay, then," said Jimmy. "Why is it that you speak English without an accent?"

"I don't know," said Kyo.

"You don't know?" asked Jimmy. How the hell is it that you can speak English with a perfect American dialect and don't even know how?"

"Well maybe I just don't know!" said Kyo. This guy was starting to push his buttons. But before things could get elevated,

"Hey!" said the RA, who had just come in. "Knock it off, you two, I don't want to see you get into any fights. Now Jimmy I'm gonna need you to sign..." Kyo glared at Jimmy as he and the RA talked. What's with this guy? Who does he think he is? Jimmy finished up signing his forms with the RA and began moving in his stuff. Kyo watched as Jimmy and his dad brought a few boxes in. One box that Kyo had to admire, though, was a box that contained things from Jimmy's past. They included a few photos of Jimmy in high school in his high school football uniform, his football helmet from high school, and a medal. Kyo wondered what those items were, so he would have to ask later. Soon, Jimmy finished moving in and said goodbye to his dad. When the door closed, the two of them were finally alone. Kyo gave Jimmy a dirty look that Jimmy (obviously) did not appreciate in the least.

"What?" asked Jimmy.

"Well," said Kyo. "Why'd you ask that?"

"Ask what?"

"Why don't have an accent!" Kyo yelled. "Are you implying that you don't think I'm Japanese?"

"I never said that you moron!" said Jimmy. "I was only wondering why you spoke English so fluently without a Japanese accent!"

"Well maybe I can't control the way I talk!"

"You know, you're overreacting to an innocent question, so why don't we just end this, right now!" said Jimmy. Kyo tried to object, but Jimmy ended the conversation by holding up his hand as if to say, 'enough'.

Instead Kyo looked in Jimmy's room and noticed a few things Jimmy had brought with him. "What's that stuff for?" Kyo asked while pointing with his head to Jimmy's paraphernalia.

Jimmy looked in the direction where Kyo was pointing and got what he was talking about. "Oh that stuff?" Jimmy asked. Kyo nodded in confirmation. "That's stuff from when I was in high school and before." He pointed to one photo of him in action. "That's me during the IHSA Class 8A State Finals in Champaign, Illinois; New Trier, my team, versus Mount Carmel during my senior year. We won that game after dropping behind by 14 points in the first quarter." He pointed to his helmet, which was a Riddell Revolution, solid green save for a white stripe going down the middle of the shell and a block interlocking "NT" in white. "That's my helmet from high school. My coach let me keep that, and he usually doesn't let you keep your helmet."

"Why'd he let you keep it?" asked Kyo.

"Because I'm the best!" Jimmy said. Kyo sighed in exasperation.

_Oh great, he's got a massive ego,_ thought Kyo. _This is going to be a long season_.

Tohru, meanwhile, was reading some _shoujo_ manga when her roommate came in. Being the polite girl she is, she panicked and tried to get in position in time to greet her roommate. Her roommate entered the two-person apartment and Tohru said, "Hello, my name is Tohru Honda. It's very nice to meet you; I hope we can be friends." She took a bow as she said that, pausing for a second before coming up to look at her roommate.

"Why did you do that?" asked her roommate.

"Oh dear, I really hope I haven't offended you," said Tohru, while bowing again.

"You're not from around here, are you?" said her roommate.

"Um, no," said Tohru. "I'm from Japan. I've only been in America for a short time." Her roommate came up to her and gave her a pat on her shoulders.

"I guess I should apologize," she said. "You were only trying to be polite, and I hope I didn't offend you."

"Oh no, you didn't!" said Tohru. "By the way, you never told me your name." The young woman in question looked to be about her age with light skin, a light body structure and dark hair that was tied in a pony tail. Her eyes were brown and she had some pretty features.

"Oh forgive me," she said. "My name's Karen McKenzie. I'm from Orlando."

"Nice to meet you, Karen, I'm Tohru Honda." She said it again just to be polite. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you to, Tohru," said Karen. Unlike Jimmy and Kyo, both of the two young ladies seemed to hit it off well.

Speaking of which, the two of them were giving each other the silent treatment. Not exactly the silent treatment when you're extremely angry at someone, but more like a slight tension in the air. Kyo was still upset at Jimmy's question, while Jimmy was trying to study his playbook. Unfortunately, Kyo's anger at Jimmy's question got to him again and he began looking at Jimmy. Jimmy noticed Kyo's expression and gave him a 'what gives?' gesture and said, "You're still mad about that? Get the fuck over it; it's not even worth talking about."

"You implied that you didn't think I was from Japan," said Kyo. Although he wasn't happy with the way he acted prior to falling in love with Tohru, he still had retained enough of his temper as the years went on. Enough that it was starting to get to him again.

"I never said that," said Jimmy, who didn't even look up from his playbook. "I was just expressing wonder at why you spoke perfect English without a Japanese accent."

"I was taught from an early age, okay?" said Kyo.

"See?" said Jimmy. "That wasn't so hard. If you had answered my question, We wouldn't be having this discussion."

"Alright then," said Kyo. But Kyo ended up insulting Jimmy by saying, "So what's with the way you speak, you don't sound like any American I've ever heard." Kyo didn't notice it, but Jimmy's hand twitched as soon as he heard that. Back in Japan, Saki Hanajima could feel Jimmy's 'waves' of anger.

"What?" He said in a very angry tone of voice.

"You don't sound like-"

"It's a Chicago accent," said Jimmy. "We have regional accents in this country, not everyone sounds like they're from California! Or Iowa!"

"Jeez, what are you getting so hostile about?" asked Kyo. First he was yelling at Jimmy about his accent, and now Jimmy was yelling at him!

"So you're Jimmy Michaels' girlfriend?" asked Tohru. She was getting to know Karen, so she was asking her some questions.

"Yep," said Karen. "We've been dating since December. But the thing is, we knew each other before we met up here at UCF."

"Oh really?" asked Tohru. "Did you go to high school together?"

Karen did a combination of giggling and chuckling. "No," she said. "I went to high school here in Orlando at Freedom High School. He went to high school in the Chicago area, specifically in a town called Winnetka at New Trier High School."

"Chicago isn't that in Illinois?" asked Tohru. Although she had a general idea of where Chicago is in the United States, she still needed verification to Chicago's location. Karen nodded her head. "So, where's Winnetka, anyway?"

"It's in Chicago's northern suburbs," said Karen.

"Oh wow," said Tohru. But she also had other questions. "But how come he's here in Florida?"

"He has his reasons," said Karen. "But you know, I could ask you the same question about why you came to Florida. "

"Oh, I'm sorry!" said Tohru. "I didn't mean to be rude, I just-" She calmed down a bit so she could talk. "Well, I'm here because my boyfriend Kyo is here to play football as well. He said that he wouldn't come unless I got in, too."

"Oh, that so sweet!" said Karen. "What's he like?"

"Well, at first he was a little rude, but eventually he warmed up a little; especially because of his family Curse." With the Curse broken, Tohru felt that it was okay to tell people about it-but only a few people, she wasn't _that_ stupid. She was only going to tell people that she trusted, like Karen. "Oh by the way, that Curse is supposed to be a secret, so don't tell anyone about it, okay?"

"Okay, but what is this curse?" asked Karen.

"You see, there are twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac. Twelve members of the Sohma family-that's my boyfriend's family-were cursed with the spirits of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, plus the cat and the Jade Emperor. If they were hugged by members of the opposite sex, then they would turn into these animals."

"Wow," said Karen, after hearing this. "Things must have been hard for them."

"Generally, members of the Zodiac were treated badly by their parents because of this curse," said Tohru. "Kyo was the worst though. He was possessed by the spirit of the cat, and because of that, he was hated by members of his own family, even his dad."

Wow," said Karen. "That must be so sad for them. But I assume the curse is broken?"

"Yes it is," said Tohru. "I'm not sure how it happened, but it's probably when Kyo and I expressed our love for each other."

"Ooohhh, that's so romantic!" said Karen. Then she stood up from the bad and said, "Hey, what do you say we go talk to Jimmy and Kyo?"

"I'd love that!" said Tohru. "But first off, do you believe me about the Curse? And second, if you do tell anyone, please tell Jimmy only."

"Sure thing," she replied. "Scout's honor!"

Jimmy and Kyo's room wasn't too far from the girls' a[artment, just a few floors away. The door had their name tags on it, so the apartment could easily be identified. When they got to the door, Karen knocked on the door. "It's unlocked!" Came a voice from the other side, But it sounded strained for some reason. So they opened the door and came through the threshold to see Jimmy with Kyo in a headlock. "You want to run that by me again, punk?" He asked.

"JIMMY!" said Karen. Jimmy looked up and his eyes widened with shock.

"Karen!" He immediately let Kyo go as soon as he saw her. Kyo dropped to the floor and coughed while trying to catch his breath. Karen ran over to Jimmy and smacked him on the cheek while Tohru ran over to see if Kyo was alright.

"I'm fine," said Kyo. "Damn it, Michaels, what was that about?"

"I know what happened!" said Karen. She turned to Jimmy and said, "Your temper got out of control again, didn't it?" Jimmy nodded sheepishly, since she was right. "What was this all about?"

"Accent trouble," said Jimmy. "We both insulted the way each other speaks and it descended from there."

"Accents? Are you kidding me?" Karen asked. "Of all the things to have a fight over you fight over accents?"

"Jeez, why the hell did you go berserk on me?" said Kyo.

"Despite the fact that you nearly went medieval on me?" said Jimmy.

"Hey, watch what you say, Michaels, otherwise I-"

"Kyo, stop!" Tohru's words stopped Kyo right in his tracks.

"Tohru, I-"

"Kyo, just please stop this already," said Tohru. "Maybe if you both apologize to each other, you'll get along better."

"Alright, alright!" said Kyo. "I'm sorry!"

"Yeah, me too," said Jimmy. They wanted to get it over with, but Karen glared at the both of them, as if she wanted them to do something else. "What the hell do you want us to do, Karen?"

"Either hug or shake hands," said Karen. "But since you follow the Man Laws, I guess you'll just shake hands."

"You do realize I barely even talk about them even more?" said Jimmy. "They're stupid, anyway."

"Whatever just shake hands!" Jimmy and Kyo did so, at first grudgingly. But after a few seconds, thanks to the firm grip they both had, they started to gain some respect for each other. "Much better."

"Well, I guess it was pretty silly," said Jimmy. "Fighting about accents. Who knows, maybe he won't be as bad as Taylor."

"Taylor." said Tohru. "Who's that?"

"My roommate from last year," Jimmy said with an exasperated tone. "Dude pissed me off big time."

"Well, we'll have to talk about that later," said Karen. "I think we need some groceries."

"Oh, dammit, I forgot about those!" said Jimmy as he hit the side of his head. "Come on, Karen-"

"Oh no, I'm not going," she said.

"What!" Jimmy replied.

"Take Kyo along," said Karen. "I'm sure you'll do some guy bonding."

"You ain't going?" said Jimmy. She shook her head no, and added that it was her final decision. Jimmy sighed and turned to Kyo. "Hey, I'm going grocery shopping, wanna come with?" Kyo was surprised at Jimmy's request, as just a few minutes earlier they had practically been trying to kill each other. He turned to Tohru, who nodded her head 'yes'.

"Alright, I'll come," said Kyo. "Do you have money?"

"My folks give me a monthly budget for groceries," he said. "I may get a free ride here, but that doesn't mean I don't have a budget. Come on, I'll show you the wheels." He motioned for Kyo to come along as Tohru and Karen watched and waved. For Karen, she smiled as she knew that her plan to get them to become friends was working.

Jimmy led Kyo out into the late afternoon Central Florida sun. Kyo lamented internally that he was not wearing sunglasses while Jimmy was. "You're gonna love my wheels," said Jimmy.

"Is it a good car?" Kyo asked.

"You'll see," said Jimmy. Kyo could only wonder what Jimmy was talking about as the two headed for the parking lot where Jimmy said his car was. Then, they came upon it. Kyo stopped mid-stride as his eyes came upon a red Ford Mustang.

"Woah," he said, completely in awe.

"You like it?" said Jimmy. "It's a 2000 GT. My dad got for me this summer. Of course, I had to get a job in order to help pay for it."

"It's incredible!" said Kyo. He tried to touch it, but Jimmy tried to stop him.

"Hey hey hey hey!" He said rapid-fire. "Don't touch it!"

"Why not?" said Kyo.

"Because I don't let anyone touch it," said Jimmy. "_Any_one."

"Oh," said Kyo.

"You think its appearance is great, wait till you see how this pony performs," said Jimmy as he unlocked the car doors. He ushered Kyo into his car, and Kyo got in. "I know you're Japanese and you have some pretty good cars," said Jimmy. "But now you're going to see how an American muscle car hauls."

"Nice," said Kyo as he took in the car's interior. Then Jimmy inserted the keys into the ignition and turned it on. The car roared to life as Jimmy turned the ignition, getting an amazed reaction for Kyo. Jimmy revved the engine a bit to give Kyo a feel for the car's power. Needless to say, Kyo was impressed.

"There's a stretch of road that's a bit out of the way," said Jimmy. "Some racers tell me they use it for racing, but I don't use it for that. But we will use it for some extra speed," he said with a mad glee.

"Really?" said Kyo.

"We're not going to go too fast," said Jimmy. "All right, let's get moving."

To Be Continued

Alright! First chapter of Jimmy & Kyo! By the way, if you have any questions, feel free to ask, I'll try to put the answers up somewhere.

As for Jimmy, here's the thing: He's not a character I made up just for this story. I created him last year for a story called "Jimmy & Taylor", but it never went beyond two chapters. But, I'm going to make it clear that you understand the events of that story. As for writing Jimmy, it felt like meeting an old friend again. Why? It just felt that way. Oh, and by the way, Jimmy's much nicer than you've seen in this particular chapter. He just has a bit of a temper.

Please review!


	2. Getting To Know Each Other

Jimmy & Kyo, Chapter 2: Getting to Know Each Other

Kyo smiled at the thrill he was feeling as he rode in Jimmy's Mustang. The car was hauling down the freeway going 55 miles an hour, but Kyo felt that it was going much faster than that. But Jimmy said the car had 350 HP, so that was probably the reason for it. Jimmy also seemed to be having fun, too. Although he had the car for some time, Jimmy loved his Mustang, because it never seemed to amaze him. "You want to hear some tunes?" said Jimmy.

"Sure," said Kyo.

"My iPod's right there," said Jimmy. "And it's hooked up already, so you don't have to plug it in."

"Alright," said Kyo.

"Put 'Highway Star' on," said Jimmy.

"'Highway Star'?" Kyo asked, wondering what Jimmy was talking about.

"It's under _Machine Head _by Deep Purple," said Jimmy. With the information, Kyo found the song on Jimmy's iPod and put the song on. The song began playing and soon the song's chugging riff began, while Jimmy hummed along. "I love this song," he said and sang along quietly as the song played. "So how long have you been playing for?" he asked.

"Um, two years," said Kyo.

"Two years!" Jimmy said in complete surprise. "Then what the hell are you doing here?"

"Well Coach O' Leary recruited me!" Kyo said defensively.

"Yeah, but I've been playing since I was _four!_" said Jimmy. "I've had experience playing this game, what have you got? Two years! I've got fifteen or sixteen! You know how good I am?"

"How good are you?" Kyo asked. He was getting a little annoyed with Jimmy yelling at him. He thought maybe his ego was bruised by Kyo's presence. Or something like that.

"I first started in my senior year, in the 2007-08 school year. Everyone thought that this kid named Dillon Napoleon-while he's a great guy, don't get me wrong-was going to start at quarterback, much like his brother. I, however, go into camp wanting the starter's job. And guess what?"

"You got it," Kyo said.

"Exactly," Jimmy replied. "That year we started unranked by the '_Chicago Tribune' _and the '_Sun-Times'_ and we had to play this team from Alabama called Hoover at home. And let me tell you, it is not easy for a North Suburban Chicago team to beat a team from Alabama, especially since these guys are so successful and they were nationally ranked, I think maybe 5th or something like that. And guess what we did? We kicked their asses!"

"Is that good?" Kyo said. Because if that's all, then-"

"Do you have any idea how big of an upset it is for a team from North Suburban Chicago that has never won a state title in football to beat the most successful team in Alabama high school football? It was huge!"

"Oh, is that all?" Kyo said. "Of course you did win the state championship, after all, so you don't have to mention that."

"Okay, so you get the point," Jimmy said. "But to the point, this arm here," he pointed to his right arm. "It's not just a cannon, it's a fucking howitzer, one that's 90% on target. And I'm smart. When I look at the defense I can tell where the weaknesses are, the gaps between the linebacker and the cornerbacks, anything."

"Other than that?"

"Yeah, I can run," Jimmy said. "Like I said, I've been playing since I was four, so I've had a long time to develop my skills. But there is a double-edged sword. You see that scar on my right elbow?" Jimmy held his right arm out and bent his elbow at a 90 degree angle. He gestured to the inside of his elbow with his head. It was somewhat difficult to see and faded, but it was certainly there. "You see that scar?"

"Yeah, what's it from?" Kyo asked.

"Tommy John surgery," Jimmy replied. He pulled his arm away and his right hand grabbed the steering wheel. "I had it when I was 13, because I kept on straining that elbow. I had to learn my limits, so I usually save my really long passes for when I need them."

"And you recovered from that?" Kyo asked.

"Of course I did! I wouldn't be here if didn't now did I; took a while, though. Took me maybe two years before I was back to full strength, and I was still good." Jimmy replied. "Okay enough about me, let's hear your story. How good are you?"

"Well when I first started, all I could rely on was my speed and agility that I had acquired from years of martial arts study," Kyo said.

"Okay, so you were already fast," Jimmy said. "What else?"

"Well I started playing football after watching a replay of an NFL game on TV. The Chicago Bears were playing the Green Bay Packers."

"You got into football through a Bears game?" Jimmy asked. "Nice. What else?"

"Well as I watched the game, I felt this would be a pretty good sport for me to try," said Kyo. I knew I would have to gain some more muscle and I would need some coaching. Luckily a friend of my girlfriend's told me she knew of a guy who would help me, since he played in the NFL. The man who she was talking about was Sadaharu Fuji."

"Sadaharu Fuji?" Jimmy asked. Kyo nodded in confirmation. "I've heard of him. He played for the Falcons, right?"

"Yeah, he did," said Kyo. "He played in Super Bowl XXXIII for the Atlanta Falcons against the Denver Broncos. I think he had an interception in that game."

"Oh, so he coached you," Jimmy said. "What else?"

"I had a 40 yard dash of 4 seconds flat," Kyo said. Jimmy was caught by surprise.

"Four seconds flat? David Marley isn't even that fast!"

"Fuji was surprised, too," said Kyo. "He suggested I play for a team he coached and I joined them that fall."

"So how'd you do?" Jimmy asked.

"Well my first season it was sort of an above-average one because I was just getting used to the team. I still did well though; I think I had 36.4 yards receiving on average per game that season. Mt second year though, was more successful."

"Yeah, why's that?" Jimmy said.

"Because I scored maybe 10-20 touchdowns that year and had 2,000+ yards receiving," Kyo said. "And I was on and all-Japan team."

"Interesting," said Jimmy. "I'm not sure whether or not that will translate to success he in the States though, because the competition here is much more intense than in Japan, I'll bet. Oh, here we are." Jimmy pointed at their location, a Wal-Mart. "We're gonna get some food and some supplies here." Once the car was parked, Jimmy and Kyo exited the vehicle. Kyo was about to go inside when he noticed Jimmy going to the trunk of the car-and he saw a medium-sized wing on the back.

"What's with the wing?" Kyo asked.

"Came with the car," Jimmy said as he popped the trunk. He reached into the back and held out some bags and handed one to Kyo.

"What are these things?" Kyo asked.

"Reusable shopping bags," Jimmy replied. "Come on, let's get inside, it's hot out here."

Once inside, the two found a shopping cart to use. "So is your girlfriend any bad when she shops?" Jimmy asked Kyo.

"Not really," Kyo replied. "When she goes shopping, it's usually just to get essentials."

"Oh, I got you," Jimmy replied. "Usually when Karen goes shopping, I dread what she's going to bring back. Usually she just gets what she needs, but at times she goes overboard. She's not a shopaholic, but her mom is and occasionally those genes seem to manifest."

"Really?"

"Really," Jimmy replied. "By the way, do you have any sho-oh wait, you're wearing shorts right now. Okay then, you're probably going to need a backpack and some binders."

"Why can't I just use my bookbag?" Kyo asked.

"How big were your books in Japan?" Jimmy asked, "Because the books in American universities can get pretty big and heavy."

"Then I guess I'll get a backpack," Kyo replied.

"And you're probably not going to be wearing that shirt all the time, are you?" Jimmy asked, referring to Kyo's (famous) black shirt.

"Probably not all the time," Kyo said.

"Good man. Oh, wait, I got a text message," Jimmy looked at his text, with Kyo trying to see what it said. "Karen sent me a shopping list," Jimmy said. "Let's see here, milk, water, vitamins, cereal, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, frozen food, ramen, etc, etc, etc. Okay, let's go."

"Probably going to have to get some rice and a rice cooker," said Kyo.

"What the hell for?" Jimmy said. "They'll probably serve rice in the dining halls this year."

"Tohru said she wants one," said Kyo.

"Your girlfriend?"

"Yeah," said Kyo.

"Sure, as long as you're paying for it though," Jimmy said.

"By the way Jimmy," Kyo said. "Do you think it will be allowed in the dorm room?"

"Probably," Jimmy said. "They let me have a crock pot last year and this, so I guess they'll let you have a rice cooker."

"That's good," Kyo said quietly. Their shopping was interrupted when somebody called to Jimmy. Not on the phone, anyway.

"Jimmy Michaels! What's up?"

"Hey," Jimmy replied.

"Do you know her?" Kyo asked.

"Nope," Jimmy replied. "One of the downsides of celebrity; all these people know you, but you have no fucking clue who they are."

"How'd you get it though?" Kyo asked.

"I earned it," Jimmy replied. "We went 13-1 last year, so that should tell you something."

"I'll say," Kyo said. "So what should we get first?"

"Let's go grocery shopping," Jimmy said. "Get the food out of the way and then we can worry about the less important stuff."

"I gotcha." So the two looked for groceries;tThe milk, bread, sandwich meat, cheese, Gatorade, orange juice, Jimmy's vitamins-Kyo also got some at Jimmy's suggestion-ramen. "Ramen?" Kyo asked.

"Standard college student cuisine," Jimmy replied. They also got cereal, rice, frozen foods, microwave food, soup, water, soda pop and orange juice. Now it was time to find the school supplies. They managed to find those easily, because they saw them coming in. Jimmy helped Kyo pick out a backpack, and Kyo also got one for Tohru, since Jimmy told him she might need one, too. He got her a girly, yet utilitarian backpack which Kyo felt she might appreciate. Kyo got a more utilitarian backpack for himself. Finally, they could get the rice cooker. Only problem was, they didn't know where to find one. "Let's ask someone," Jimmy said.

"Sounds like a good idea," Kyo replied. They looked for an employee to talk to, finally noticing someone with his back to them.

"Let's ask that guy," Jimmy said. The two went over to the employee, and Jimmy tapped the man's shoulder. "Um, excuse me-"

"Yeeeesssss?" The employee said in his bellowing voice as he turned around. He had slicked-back thinning hair and a widow's peak with a pencil mustache. He was slightly overweight, too.

"This ain't good," Jimmy whispered to Kyo. "Um, do you work here?" He asked.

"Well what do I look like I'm doing with this vest on, serving my community service?" The man replied.

"Look, do you have any rice cookers?" Jimmy asked, starting to get annoyed.

"Oo-oo-oo-ooh, DO we!" He replied. Jimmy was really getting irritated.

"Well then where are they?" Jimmy asked impatiently.

"Well where do you think they are?" He replied. "They're in the appliances section, obviously."

"I don't think he likes you Jimmy," Kyo whispered to Jimmy.

"Some customer service," he replied.

"Oh don't worry, I don't hate you," the man said. "I just think you're annoying." With that, he left the two alone.

"Yeah, the feeling's mutual, buddy," Jimmy replied. He turned to Kyo and said, "Come on, let's just find the damn thing and get the hell out of here."

"I agree," Kyo said. They finally managed to find the rice cooker, which Kyo mentioned was the same kind they used at Shigure's house. Kyo had to pay for the rice cooker, since Jimmy told him to-mainly because Jimmy was already getting close to his monthly grocery budget. But Kyo was fine with it, since the Sohma family is relatively well-off; he was able to pay for the appliance. But their little Wal-Mart adventure isn't done yet. No, they still had to check out.

"I'd better be under budget," Jimmy muttered under his breath as they waited for their turn in the check-out lane.

"I'd better be able to afford this," Kyo said. 'I don't know if my card will allow it."

"I think they should," Jimmy said. Finally, it was their turn, and lo and behold, the person behind the register was the same guy they asked about the rice cooker. "You again?"

"Well what did you expect," he said, "A pretty young lady?"

"Well no, but not you!" Kyo replied.

"Well too bad, you're stuck with me!" He replied.

"How the hell were you working in the aisles earlier and now the guy at the register in just 15 minutes?" Jimmy asked.

"I know! I'll probably be a janitor in 5 minutes!" He said sarcastically.

"Look let's just forget about it for now and get moving, we're holding up the line," Jimmy said. Kyo nodded and the two simply rang up their items so they could get the hell out of there and away from that guy. Kyo had to help Jimmy load the back of the car, thanks to Kyo's purchase of that rice cooker. Then Jimmy called Karen, since he was going to need help unloading the car. "Hey Karen... yeah, I just need some help loading the car... rice cooker... Marley? Okay, then. Thanks, Karen."

"What was that?" Kyo asked.

"David Marley's going to help us unload the car," Jimmy said, referring to the junior wideout from Atlanta. "That's what Karen said, anyway."

"Okay then," Kyo said. "As along as I don't have to carry that rice cooker."

"Actually, you're taking it in anyway," Jimmy said. "You bought it, you have to bring it in."

About 15 minutes later, the duo arrived back at Tower IV, where David Marley was waiting for them. Marley had black hair that came in dreadlocks, which Jimmy said was part of David's Rastafarian faith. He was muscular, much like Jimmy and Kyo, and he had tattoos on his arm, mostly referring to Rastafarian movement. "What's up, Marley?" Jimmy said as he got out of the car.

"What's up, Michaels?" Marley replied.

"Not much, just going to need your help getting this stuff inside," Jimmy said.

"Really, like what?" Marley asked.

"I just need you to carry in some bags," Jimmy said. 'We got a rice cooker, but Mr. Sohma here," he pointed to Kyo, "Is going to carry that in himself."

"Why do I have to carry the rice cooker?" Kyo said, his trademark temper starting to flare up.

"Why not? You paid for it!" Jimmy shot back. He turned to Marley and said, 'You gonna help?"

"Fasho, man," Marley replied. He followed Jimmy to the trunk of the Mustang where Kyo was waiting. After popping the trunk, Jimmy helped Marley get the bags out of the car. Kyo also got them out, since Jimmy told him to wait to take the rice cooker in, so Kyo left it in the trunk for now. Jimmy had gotten two of everything, one for his and Kyo's apartment, and for the girls' apartment. Jimmy wasn't too happy about the fact that Karen nearly made him blow all his grocery money on this one trip, and Kyo understood why. After a couple of trips, it came time for Kyo to take the rice cooker in.

"I might need your help you know," he said to Jimmy.

"Re-_lax_, you'll do fine!" Jimmy replied. "Just remember to lift with your legs."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kyo said. He picked up the rice cooker, commenting on how it wasn't as bad as he thought. But he still wasn't crazy about having to carry it in with him. Meanwhile, Jimmy carried in the two backpacks that they had purchased for Kyo and Tohru. It took maybe five minutes, but Kyo managed to get the rice cooker into Tower IV and into his and Jimmy's apartment. "Next time, you're carrying something in," Kyo said to Jimmy.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, only if I'm paying for it," Jimmy replied.

"I just don't get your reasoning!" Kyo said, his voice getting louder.

"Well guess what, you have all year to get used to it," Jimmy shot back.

"Oh Kyo, you got the rice cooker I asked for," Tohru said as she and Karen entered the apartment. "Thank you, Kyo."

"You're welcome," he said. He guessed that as long as Tohru was happy it wasn't too bad.

"So she's Tohru, right?" Jimmy asked. It then hit Tohru that they had not been properly introduced, so she took it upon herself to greet Jimmy.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, my name's Tohru Honda," she said as she bowed to Jimmy. "You must be Jimmy; it's so nice to meet you."

"Honda? Whenever I hear that word I think of the cars!" said Jimmy. "But anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh no, the pleasure's all mine!" She said, bowing several times.

"Hey come on, you don't have to do that anymore!" Kyo said to her.

"Well I just want to be polite, Kyo-kun," Tohru said in return.

"Well, alright," Kyo said. He turned to Karen and said, "I guess I'll have to introduce myself to you. My name's Kyo Sohma, I'm Tohru's boyfriend."

"Oh really?" Karen said. "My name's Karen McKenzie, I'm Jimmy's girlfriend."

"Well now that we're all introduced, I guess we'll get something to eat," said Jimmy. "I vote for pizza."

"Pizza sounds good," said Kyo.

"I like the idea," Tohru said as well.

"Well then I guess it's settled, 3 out of 4 means-oh wait, make that unanimous," he said, counting Karen's vote. "So I guess I'll have to find a place to order from. I vote for Uno's!" Jimmy said, referring to the Uno Pizzeria on University Blvd.

"Why Uno's Jimmy?" Karen asked. "Why not get Golden Knights or Lazy Moon?"

"What do you guys think?" Jimmy said to Kyo and Tohru, "Uno's or those other places?"

"Uno's sounds good to me," Tohru said.

"Me too," Kyo said as well. Jimmy looked at Karen and shrugged, as if to say, 'sorry, but that's what they want'.

"Oh all right, we'll have your way," Karen said in a defeated tone.

"Yes!" Jimmy said quietly. "I'll call 'em right now. Oh, wait, what kind do you want? Sausage or..."

"I don't know, what do they have?" Kyo asked, "As long as they don't have leeks."

"I don't think there's such a thing as leek pizza in the States, dude," Jimmy said.

"Then I'll probably have sausage," he replied. "Tohru?"

"Pepperoni!" She said enthusiastically.

"Well, looks like we've got some dissent!" Jimmy said. "Actually, why don't we just sausage and pepperoni?"

"That sounds good," Karen said.

"I like that," Kyo added.

"Me too!" Tohru finished.

"All righty then, I'll call Uno's," Jimmy said as he picked up his cell phone. "You want soda, too?"

"We already have that," Kyo said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," he said laughing, He dialed the number and waited for a few moments before saying, "Hello, I'd like to order a pizza..."

Kyo and Tohru were more than ready when the pizza finally came. It took over an hour to make the blasted thing! Jimmy and Karen, on the other hand, told them that it was simply the way Uno's made their pizza, and Jimmy told them they would have to use a knife and a fork to eat the pizza-because that was the way Chicago-style deep dish is traditionally eaten. When the pizza finally arrived, Kyo and Tohru were dying to sink their teeth into it. And so were Jimmy and Karen. "About damn time!" Kyo said.

"Oh yeah," said Jimmy. Jimmy opened the box and Kyo and Tohru got a look at it. It looked more like a tomato pie than a pizza! But Jimmy, being from the Chicagoland area, was very much used to this. "Dig in, everybody!" he said as he handed some slices to the other three. "And remember to use a fork and a knife, too." They sat down at the table and began to eat. "So tell me," Jimmy said in between bites. "Where in Japan are you from?"

"We're from a city called Kaibara," Tohru said.

"Where the hell is that?" Jimmy asked. Tohru froze, strangely enough, which Jimmy was not pleased about. "You mean you don't even know where your own goddamn hometown is?"

"I'm terribly sorry!" Tohru said. "I kind of forgot!"

"It's between Kyoto and Tokyo, but closer to Tokyo," Kyo said in between bites. "It's hard to find on the map."

"The place I'm from, Northfield is relatively easy to find," Jimmy said.

"I thought you were from a town called Winnetka!" Kyo said.

"Same damn ZIP code!" Jimmy replied. "Anyway, it's right off I-94, about 20 minutes north of Chicago."

"Is it easy to find on a map?" Kyo asked.

"Relatively," Jimmy replied. "You kind of have to look for it. But Karen here is simply from Orlando."

"But why did you come here to UCF, Jimmy?" Tohru asked.

"Because they were they only school that could give me a starting quarterback position as a true freshman," Jimmy replied. "I could have gone to Illinois, but they already had a starter, and I wasn't too crazy about being redshirted. I could have gone to Southern Cal, but they had the same situation. I could have gone to Florida, which is where my grandpa, my parents and my brother went, but they already had Tim Tebow, so that was out of the question. So really, the only place I could go was here, but what about you, Sohma?"

"UCF was the first-and probably only-school that tried to recruit me," Kyo said. "One day George O' Leary shows up at the house I'm staying at and offers me a free ride. Naturally, I took it. But you have no idea what I had to do to even get permission to come here. Even after the curse was-" Kyo silenced himself, realizing he had just given away the secret.

"What curse?" Jimmy asked. Too late. He really didn't want Jimmy to lose his memory, but he knew just a little bit.

"My family had been cursed for generations," Kyo said. "If we were hugged by a member of the opposite sex, we turned into one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. The curse was broken just this year. I was cursed with the cat." He looked to Jimmy to see what his reaction would be. Jimmy stayed silent for a few moments before...

Kyo was surprised. Jimmy was snickering! Soon, the dam burst and Jimmy broke into full-blown laughter. "A curse?" Jimmy said in between laughs. "That's gotta be the shittiest story I've ever heard! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Kyo looked at Jimmy with a sort of surprised look on his face.

"You don't believe a word I just said, do you?" He asked.

"Ha ha ha. No," Jimmy said. "Like I said, it's ridiculous."

"But it's true!" Tohru said. "I can support what Kyo-kun says!"

"Hey look, listen to me," Jimmy said. "I don't believe in curses. And the idea that someone can turn into an animal just by getting hugged is the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

"You're one to talk!" Karen said. "You believe in Digimon!"

"_Digimon?_" Kyo and Tohru asked.

"How many times do I have to say this?" Jimmy said, now in a slightly offended tone. "They're real! My brother Scottie may not believe in them, but I do!"

"Some skeptic you are!" Karen said. "What do you guys think of that?" She asked to Kyo and Tohru.

"I think I've heard of them," Tohru said. "Somebody told me they had seen one in Tokyo."

"I never really paid much attention to that," Kyo said. "I did hear the occasional rumors, but that's it."

"Well I don't," Karen said. "I never really believed in them."

"Alright, this conversation's getting silly," Jimmy said. "So do have the schedule [1] memorized?" He said to Kyo.

"Yeah, I got it memorized," he replied.

"Um, I don't know what it is," Tohru said.

"Then we'll tell you," Jimmy said. "Our season opener is the September 5th against the Richmond Spiders at home. Then we have our first conference game against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at Southern Miss on the 12th. The week after that on the 19th we have the Ohio State Buckeyes at home, which should be a big match-up."

"What do you mean?" Tohru asked.

"Ohio State's only ranked #3 in the nation!" Jimmy said. "The athletic department's going to hype that game up for all it's worth. Then we go to East Carolina on the 26th. Then after that we a home game against the Memphis Tigers and go to the... TCU Horned Frogs... on the third and 17th of October respectively, so we have a bye week in between. After that, we play the Rice Owls in Houston on the 24th and then we come home to face the Marshall Thundering Herd on Halloween."

"Then we come play the Boise State Broncos on the 7th, which should be interesting, since they're ranked 7th right now," Kyo said to Tohru. And then after that we play the UAB Blazers in Birmingham. We finish the season by coming back for two home games against the Houston Cougars, which is our homecoming game on the 14th, and then we play the Tulane Green Wave for the last home game on the 21st. And if all goes well, we'll probably play in the Conference-USA championship game."

"And if we do well enough, we'll be in a bowl game," said Jimmy. "We're unranked right now, but I have a feeling we might end up in a BCS bowl this year. In fact, we finished the season ranked 12th and we should be ranked 12th now!"

"Wow, that sounds tough," Karen said.

"Although it's most likely we'll just flatten the conference teams," Jimmy said. "We'll probably have difficulty against Ohio State, Notre Dame and Boise State. Richmond shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I'm loath to view them as push-overs, considering what Appalachian State did to Michigan in 2006."

"Do you think you'll beat those other three teams?" Tohru asked.

"Well we did beat No. 5 UCLA last year," said Jimmy. "But that was sort of a fluke, since they ended up finishing 3rd in the Pac-10 behind USC and Cal Berkeley."

"And you lost to UTEP," Kyo said.

"Argh, don't remind me about that," Jimmy groaned as he rubbed his face in his hands. "I threw three interceptions in that game, one of which was returned for a goddamn touchdown!"

"That hurts," Tohru said.

"Tell me about it," Jimmy replied. "The Orlando media was all over my ass and I had to put on a dominating performance the next week to get them to shut the fuck up."

"Just as long as I don't suck," Kyo said. "My family's probably going to be the only people in Japan watching me."

"Your dad's going to be watching you?" Jimmy asked "That's not too-"

"He's not going to be watching that, and frankly, I don't care if he does," Kyo said. "The man hates me. And I could care less."

"Why is that?" Karen asked.

"He's a weak man," said Kyo. "He blamed not only me but my mother for her death. I confronted him recently, but I found he was not only afraid of me, but he was pathetic."

"Whoa," Jimmy said. "I may not believe that curse shit, but I can believe something like that. He must have been bad, huh?"

"The whole damn Sohma clan's screwed up," Kyo said. "They're probably more dysfunctional than any dysfunctional family on a sitcom. And it wasn't even funny. And Tohru here is an orphan."

"Damn, that's gotta suck," Jimmy said. "At least I don't have that kind of relationship with my parents; even though my family can be screwed up, but in a more comedic way."

"What does your dad do?" Tohru asked.

"Ah, he's a sports writer for the '_Chicago Tribune',_" Jimmy said. "His name's Bob Michaels. My brother Scott, meanwhile, he's playing soccer over in Scotland for this team called Celtic in Glasgow."

"Oh, is he any good?" Tohru asked.

"He's pretty good," Jimmy said. "I can't remember how many goals he scored, but he told me it was something like 4th in the Scottish Premier League or something behind his teammate Tai Kamiya."

"Tai Kamiya, he's Japanese!" Tohru said.

"You follow soccer?" Jimmy asked.

"Sort of," she replied. "But I have heard of Tai Kamiya."

"Well, that's interesting," said Karen.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Jimmy.

"But what does your mother do?" Tohru asked. Jimmy let out an embarrassed sigh and pulled the bill of his Bears cap over his face. "Is it bad?" She asked.

"No, it's not," Karen said. "His mom, Bridget Michaels, is a romance novelist, and she has been known to write some racy stuff, so Jimmy's kind of embarrassed by it."

Kyo sniggered at Jimmy's embarrassment, but Jimmy was not happy about it. "Don't even think about it," he said underneath the bill of his cap while pointing at Kyo.

"Well, I guess I can relate though," Kyo said, relenting. "My cousin Shigure is a smut writer, too."

"Then we have that in common," Jimmy said, "Even though he's not your mom."

"Good point," Kyo said.

"But you don't hate her, do you Jimmy?" Tohru asked.

"No, I don't hate her," Jimmy replied. "We do get into occasional fights, but she's my mom. It's just embarrassing when you tell someone your name and they ask if you're related to the person who wrote some semi-smutty novel."

"I got your point," said Kyo. "At least you still have your mother, unlike Tohru and I."

"You already mentioned your mom was dead and Tohru was an orphan," Jimmy said.

"Well my mom died when I was young and Tohru's mom died when she was just starting high school, so there's a slight difference."

"Oh, I got ya," Jimmy said. A while later, the four of them finished their pizza and Karen and Tohru returned to their apartment while Jimmy and Kyo took care of the plates. "So what movie do you want to watch?" Jimmy asked after they were done.

"I don't know," said Kyo. "What have you got?"

"Well, we could watch _Hondo, 3:10 to Yuma, Blazing Saddles, High Noon, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence..._"

"Wait, wait, hold up!" Kyo said. "What are those?"

"Westerns!" Jimmy replied. "I like 'em!"

"Are Westerns all you have?" Kyo asked.

"Well no, but they're the ones I want to watch right now," Jimmy replied.

"Why can't we watch _The Seven Samurai _or _Enter the Dragon_?" Kyo asked.

"Because I don't have '_The Seven Samurai' _and I don't have '_Enter the Drago'n _with me," Jimmy replied. "It's either the Westerns or nothing."

"Then I'll take _The Magnificent Seven_," Kyo said. "At least that's remade from _The Seven Samurai_."

"Good choice!" said Jimmy. And so, the two spent the first night as roommates watching _The Magnificent Seven_. Only time will tell what else happens in the future.

Notes

[1] This schedule is mostly fictional. UCF did not play Ohio State or TCU or Boise State in 2009.

By the way, Scott's adventures can be seen in the Digimon story _It's A Grand Old Team To Play For._ Mind you, that story takes place one year before this one.


	3. The First Day of Classes

Jimmy & Kyo, chapter 3: First Day of Classes

That Monday August 24, Kyo and Tohru awoke in excitement, for it was finally the first day of classes for the both of them. They had gotten the books required for their courses and Kyo had found out Jimmy was actually right about the fact that his book bag wouldn't be enough for the books in American universities.

"You okay Sohma?" Jimmy asked as they were eating breakfast.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kyo said. "I guess it's just that I've never really been excited for school to start."

"I was like that last year," Jimmy said. "Now I just accept it." Kyo nodded as he ate his cereal. Kyo was taking four classes, and so was Tohru. He also shared a class with Jimmy, a course on American history from 1492-1877 that was suggested Kyo should take. Not by Jimmy, but by Coach O' Leary. The class was at 1:30, so Kyo could have his lunch in between class periods. Of course, Jimmy had to wonder why Coach O' Leary suggest Kyo take a 2000-level course in his first year. His first class was at 10:30 in the morning today, so he had to leave around the same time Jimmy did, who also had his first class at 10:30.

The main part of the University of Central Florida campus is unique among American colleges. While most campuses are known for their 'quad' areas, UCF was designed primarily pedestrian-friendly with a series of concentric circles. The buildings were within each circle. The housing was primarily on the perimeter of the campus and the athletic fields and buildings were mainly on the north side of the campus. The innermost circle of the campus, Pegasus Circle, included the massive Student Union and a small wooded area.

Kyo's first class was an English class—not an English as a Second Language class, but a composition class. Since it was only the first day, most of the class was just the teacher discussing the course outline and the requirements for the course. The class was short for the day, so Kyo could get out early. And into the hot Central Florida sun. He had mocked Jimmy's cowboy hat earlier that morning, but now he was starting to see that Jimmy had a good idea regarding it. But of course, it was a beautiful day, as there wasn't a cloud in the sky. But Jimmy told him to enjoy these days, because it was possible it could be raining tomorrow. And granted, it was most likely there was going to me thunderstorms next week—and the possibility of a hurricane or tropical storm.

With some time on his hands, Kyo decided to walk around the campus for a while before heading to his next class. The buildings had a modern, almost crystal-like aspect to them. Since the university was founded in 1963, it actually made some sense that the buildings all look new. But they all looked vastly different, unlike the high schools in Japan, which are strangely modeled on the same template a good majority of the time. And the only reason he compared them to Japanese high schools was because those were the only school buildings he was used to. But he did like the small class sizes, since he wasn't sure if he'd be used to the large lecture halls he had heard about. But then again, there was a chance he'd have to take a lecture hall class.

His next class was a chemistry class, and that meant a lab—but not today. Again, the class ran short for the day, since the instructor just went over the syllabus, the requirements and other aspects of the course, only this one went for 30 minutes instead of 50.

Since class let out at noon, it was time to get some lunch. So, he decided to head over to the student union, since it was pretty close by.

The UCF Student Center was a large building, easily one of the biggest on campus. But that was mainly in floor size, since it was only 3 stories tall. The outside was mostly light brick with some red in the mix. Well, it wasn't really brick. But anyway, inside is the more interesting part.

Inside, Kyo found himself standing inside the Student Union's atrium with other UCF students crowding him. Unlike when he first went to Kaibara High School, this time he was much more comfortable in large groups. They were specifically avoiding a roped-off area, which Kyo got closer to in order to get a better look at. The part that was roped off was the university seal, which was a gold silhouette of Pegasus rearing, but only the upper part of his body over a circular field of black. The reason why it was roped off was because, according to Jimmy, it's bad luck for a UCF student to stand on the seal; otherwise, they won't graduate. Seemed like a strange superstition.

And now a more important question was filling his mind: where to eat? there were a few places in the student center he could eat at, but Sbarro and Subway didn't really look too interesting. There was a Burger King there, and an Asian Chao. But he'd had enough Japanese food that he decided to go with the Burger King. He could eat at the Asian Chao some other time.

So after ordering his food-which took a while to do because of the number of students trying to get their lunch he had another question—where to sit? There weren't very many places to sit down, since the dining room was pretty much chock full of conversing students discussing their classes. So where to sit...

"Hey Sohma!" came a voice from within the din. "Over here!" He looked among the crowd of people, trying to find who said it. Then he saw someone looking at him and waving. "Hey Sohma, get your ass over here!" Jimmy was sitting with some other people at a circular table. Kyo could recognize some, thinking they were members of the UCF offense. "What's up, Sohma?" Jimmy said as Kyo got to the table. "How have your classes been?"

"They've been okay," Kyo said. "Been short, though."

"Yeah, they're usually short the first day," Jimmy said. "So come on, take a seat and hang out with us." With Jimmy's invitation, Kyo took a seat to Jimmy's right, which was the only seat available at the table. "You want me to introduce everybody?" Jimmy asked.

"Sure," Kyo replied. "I probably need some refreshing over who's who."

"Alrighty then!" He gestured to the person to his left. He had brown hair, much like Jimmy's, but shorter and he was taking a bite into a Subway sandwich. "This here is Jim Oakley, from Pinckneyville, Illinois, so he's a small town guy. He's one of our wide receivers. The guy to his left is Byron Johnson, another receiver, from Jacksonville, Florida." Byron nodded his head at Kyo. Byron wore a du-rag on his head, so Kyo couldn't see what his hair was like. "To his left is Josh Hanson, our halfback, from Belle Glade, Florida." Hanson had cornrows on his head, unlike Johnson. Jimmy then gestured to another person, this one with red hair and taking a sip of his drink. "That there is Roger Wolarski, our fullback from Los Angeles." He pointed to Wolarski's left, a man wearing a tank top and a small afro. "That there is Josh Stevens, a wide receiver. He's actually from Gator Town—Gainsville, if you don't remember—so he's certainly out of place!" The Jimmy gestured to the one to Stevens' right, a heavyset person, close to 300 lbs. "To his left is Charles Jones, our center. And he's an Orlando native."

"What it is, man?" Charles asked. Kyo was confused about his words.

"What?"

"He said 'what's up'," Jimmy said. "It'll take a while for you to get use to what he says, just like I did. Hell, it might take you a while to get used to ebonics, too!" He pointed to the person next to Jones, who was directly to Kyo's right. He was big, like Charles. "And he's Lionel Hamilton, from Hoover, Alabama, an offensive guard. Actually, he was on that Hoover team we beat!" He said, referring to a game his team played in high school.

"Will you shut up about that?" Hamilton asked.

"No, I'm gonna keep reminding you about it!" Jimmy replied. "And of course, you already know Marely," he said, pointing to David Marley, who sat between Charles Jones and Josh Stevens. "Everybody, say hello to Kyo Sohma, from Japan!"

"Hi," they all said in half-assed tones.

"Ah well," Jimmy said. "So have you been looking at the playbook?" He asked to the lot of them.

"Fasho," said Josh Stevens. "Looks like O' Leary's making some changes."

"Like adding the Wildcat formation?" Jimmy said.

"Yeah, man," Stevens replied.

"Wildcat?" Kyo asked.

"You know what it is?" Jimmy asked, assuming Kyo didn't.

Kyo answered in a slightly offended tone, "Of course I know what it is! It's a variation of a Single-wing formation where the running back is in the quarterback position instead of the quarterback. It was first popularized in the college level by the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2006."

"Good man," said Jimmy. "I see you've done some research."

"But what the hell are we going to do with it?" Wolarski asked. "We haven't had time to practice it at all."

"I have a feeling O' Leary will make us go over it in practice this week," Jimmy said. "No coach would ever make his players learn a formation without having them practice it first."

"So I guess running it in our first game is probably out of the question," Oakley said. "What I'm more worried about though, is all the no-huddle plays we're going to be running."

"Coach Taaffe," Jimmy said, referring to Charlie Taaffe, the UCF offensive coordinator. "Did tell us that we're going to need a two-minute drill during the season, so I think those plays might be part of it."

"But what about your situation, Jimmy?" asked Wolarski. "Last year,you called about 25% of the plays on your own. Is O' Leary letting you call more this year?"

"O' Leary told me I'll be getting to call more plays this year," Jimmy replied, "Although he's mainly going to be calling the formations. As long as I get to call at least 50% of the plays, I'm fine with it."

"What about Sohma here?" Hanson asked. "Is he going to get redshirted?"

"Coach O' Leary didn't say anything about that," Kyo said. "I think I won't be."

"Even though you weren't at the FanFest?" Hanson asked.

"I was at the practice, you know!" Kyo replied.

"Probably makes sense that he won't get redshirted, since Williams fucking left us," Jimmy said, with a hint of resentment in his voice.

"Why is he angry?" Kyo asked, detecting said resentment.

"Demetrous Williams was Jimmy's favorite receiver," Oakley replied. "He was one of the fastest guys on the team and he could turn a botched play into a SportsCenter highlight."

"That_is_ good," Kyo said in a very impressed tone. Obviously that was a pretty difficult figure to surpass.

"Yeah, and unfortunately, it got to his head and he left for the NFL," Jimmy said slightly angrily.

"And Jimmy's still mad about it," said Hanson.

"But will we be any good this year?" Kyo said while putting some fries in his mouth.

"Hopefully!" said Oakley. "Although it's not really the conference games we're worried about, it's the games against OSU, Boise State and TCU that we're worried about."

"I'll say," said Hanson. "So is Sohma your new roommate?" He asked, changing the subject, asking Jimmy.

"Yeah, he is," said Jimmy.

"I'll bet he's better than Taylor!" said Oakley. But Jimmy wasn't happy, and he was covering his face with the brim of his cowboy hat which he just picked up.

"Please don't mention him!" He said underneath the hat.

"Who's Taylor?" Kyo asked.

"Jimmy's roommate from last year," said Jones. "And I know Jimmy can tell you about him better than all of us can."

"No, I'm not in the mood!" Jimmy said.

"Oh yeah, like you were in the mood to say why you believe in Digimon!" Wolarski said.

"I told you, they're real!" Jimmy said defensively.

"Oh really?" Marley asked. "Have you ever seen one?"

"Well..." Jimmy contemplated for a moment, then said, "No."

"Then why do you believe in them?" Marley said. "Some atheist you are!"

"Not believing in god yet believing in digital monsters is completely different!" Jimmy said.

"Atheist?" Kyo asked Jimmy.

"We'll discuss that later," Jimmy replied.

"I'm not entirely sure about that," said Marley.

"Actually, it should be more like 'some skeptic you are'," Jimmy said. Now Kyo could have talked about the curse, but he decided Jimmy was going to be the only person he told. And if Jimmy or Kyo did talk about the curse to these guys, there was a good chance no one would believe it, either. "I'm done with my lunch, I'm getting out of here," said Jimmy as he got up. It wasn't an excuse; he really was done with his lunch. "See you in class, Sohma," he said to Kyo.

"See you," Kyo said. The other players, who were also done with their lunches, also got up to leave. Kyo didn't feel any loneliness about it at all, since they were already done. And he would most likely see them again at practice.

At about 1:30, Kyo made it to his history class, which was his last for today. It was the previously-mention American history class that O' Leary suggested he take. Jimmy was also in this class, so Kyo was looking for him. It shouldn't be too hard, right? He was wearing a goofy cowboy hat that didn't belong in this part of the United States, so he shouldn't be too hard to-

"What the hell are you looking for?" Kyo was startled by a voice from behind him. He turned around and noticed he was blocking Jimmy from entering the classroom. And yes, he was wearing that goofy cowboy hat.

"Don't startle me like that!" Kyo said, trying to collect himself.

"Well maybe I wouldn't have if you weren't in the way," said Jimmy. "Now move it!"

"And you don't have to be some impolite about either," Kyo said to himself as the two took their seats right next to each other. Jimmy took off his hat, which was obvious since it would block the view of the person behind him and because he didn't really need inside. "Why do you wear a cowboy hat anyway?" Kyo asked.

"Sun protection," Jimmy replied. 'We're in Florida, it's sunny and hot. Might as well wear something to protect yourself and keeps you cool."

"And it looks silly," Kyo added. Jimmy was about to react when the class instructor entered the room, carrying a pile of syllabuses.

"Alright, settle down everybody," said the teacher. "I know you're excited, but I would like everybody's attention. Now it has come to my attention that there might be some foreign students here, so this might be your first exposure to American history. So now I'll pass out the syllabus..."

"So how'd you like the class?" Jimmy asked Kyo after they had left the building. They were now headed back to their dorm room, mainly to get ready for football practice later that afternoon. Jimmy was again wearing his cowboy hat, which Kyo was annoyed by.

"I think it might be interesting," Kyo said. "You people seem to have an interesting history."

"Is it as interesting as your peoples' history?" Jimmy asked.

"We've had an interesting history," Kyo said. "But I must admit, we've always been independent."

"Ha ha, yeah, the Japanese do have that on the United States," Jimmy said in response. "So the dates for the class are from 1492 to 1877. Nearly 400 years, do you think you can handle that?"

"The syllabus does indicate that we'll be going over one time period per day," said Kyo.

"Yeah, and only one day to go over the Revolution and the Civil War," Jimmy said, referring to the American Revolution and the American Civil War. "But you'll most likely get a good understanding of us Americans that some people don't understand."

"I suppose you're right," said Kyo. The two continued their walk towards their dorm room.

"...So Karen tells me your girlfriend keeps some ceramic eggs. Is that true?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, she does," Kyo replied. "They're of the Chinese Zodiac plus a cat."

"Cat? Is this related to this curse of—"

Just then they heard a voice from behind them. "Yoo-hoo, Jimmy!" In an instant, Jimmy froze in his tracks and tensed up with an almost scared look on his face.

"Is that..." Jimmy slowly turned around to see who was calling him, with Kyo doing the same. The two turned around to see...

"Hi, Jimmy!" A Chris Crocker clone walking towards them. Kyo's jaw dropped to the ground when he saw who it was. Jimmy took a look at him/her and averted his eyes.

"That's my roommate from last year, Taylor Robinson," said Jimmy.

"THAT was your roommate!" Kyo said, bewildered by Taylor's appearance. You'd think that because he knew a crossdresser and that the head of the Sohma family was a crossdresser that he'd be used to a guy who looks like a girl; apparently not.

"Yes, now let's get the hell out of here, I don't want to see him again," Jimmy said. The two tried to leave, but Taylor caught Jimmy and glomped the poor bastard much to the QB's displeasure especially when Taylor started spinning him around. "Getoffmegetoffmegetoffme!" He said, rapid-fire.

"Oh come on Jimmy, it's been months!" aaid Taylor. "I was excited to see you again!"

"Well I was hoping to go the whole year without seeing you again!" Jimmy said. "Now get off me!"

'By the way, who's this stud?" Taylor said.

"What stud? I don't see one!" aaid Jimmy.

"The orange-haired guy!" Taylor said.

"Oh, him? That's Kyo Sohma, my new roommate," said Jimmy. "Now get off!" Jimmy struggled in vain to get Taylor to release his grip from him, but to no avail.

"Um, hi?" said Kyo.

"Oh come on, Jimmy? Why are you acting like this?" Taylor said. "You don't hate gays, do you?"

"You already know I don't hate gays," said Jimmy. "I just don't like _you_!"

"Oh, that's not very nice," said Taylor. "You tried to help me out after that vicious attack!"

"Because you were pathetic, that's why!" Jimmy said bluntly. "By the way, I suggest you let go of me."

"Or what?"

"Or that," he pointed behind Taylor. Behind him, he could hear the sounds of evil breathing and could feel a dark presence shadowing him. A pair of evil eyes flashed.

"GET... OFF... MY... BOY... FRIEND!"

"Hey, Karen!" Said Jimmy with a smile. Karen grabbed Taylor and ripped him off Jimmy.

"Now please, don't do that again," said Karen, this time in a _polite_voice. Kyo was bewildered at this.

"Is your girlfriend a yandere?" He asked.

"A what?" aaid Jimmy.

"She seems sweet but she's really batshit insane," said Kyo.

"I'm not crazy!" Karen said. "I was just playing it up! Now please, don't mess with my boyfriend again, Taylor."

"Okay, then," said Taylor. "I was just playing with him." Kyo's jaw dropped again. The whole thing was an act?

"You'd better not, I can't tell if you're actually hitting on me or if you're playin' around," said Jimmy. "It gets annoying."

"So he's not attracted to you?" Kyo asked.

"Nah, I think he's got a boyfriend or something like that," said Jimmy.

"Oh, by the way, Kyo, there's something you should see," Karen said She waved to someone behind Jimmy, gesturing for them to come over. Jimmy, Kyo and Taylor looked at who it was. Taylor's reaction was indifferent; Jimmy's reaction was simply interested, while Kyo was blown away.

"Um, hi Kyo," Tohru said in a timid voice. There she was, wearing short shorts, and clearly looking somewhat uncomfortable. And blushing like a ripe tomato.

"Um, Tohru, why are you wearing those?" Kyo asked.

"Karen suggested I do it," said Tohru. "She didn't coerce me or anything, she just suggested it."

"She's right," said Karen. "I just suggested she wear them and she agreed with it. But she did start to regret it. I guess she's a modest girl, right?"

"Yeah, she is," said Kyo.

"Dump the shorts, it doesn't look good on you," said Taylor.

"Don't say that!" said Jimmy.

"Yeah, she's got some self-esteem issues," said Kyo. "Don't say things like that."

"I was just teasing, doll," said Taylor. "Don't you get it?"

"It's hard to tell when you're teasing or being serious," said Jimmy. "Come on guys, let's get out of here," he said to Kyo, Tohru and Karen.

"Okay then," said Taylor. The four of them walked off, back towards the dorm building when Taylor said, "Bye, Jimmy!" utterly embarrassing Jimmy.

Kyo's first practice of the year after the FanFest—which he only partially attended, the scrimmage only—was a tough one. The questions of whether Kyo would play seemed to be answered, because George O' Leary, the head coach, put him in the first string for this practice. O' Leary was a heavy-set man with silver hair and blue eyes. His skin had sort of a pinkish tone to it. We join the action during game simulation.

"Set... HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy, who dropped back in the pocket and threw to the right side of the field to David Marley for a (simulated) gain of 6 yards. The formation was an I-formation with two receivers, in this case, Marley and Byron Johnson. The next play which O' Leary called involved Kyo on the field. The team was going to go over its spread offense. The UCF offense lined in said formation, with five linemen on the offensive line. For this particular play, five receivers lined up, was well. From left to right: Jim Oakley, Byron Johnson, Kyo and Kyo were to the left side of the line of scrimmage. David Marley and Johs Stevens lined up on the right side of the line of scrimmage, while Jimmy lined up a few yards behind the center in what's known as the 'shotgun' position. Jimmy surveyed the defense, looking for any weakness between the cornerbacks and the safeties, and found one. "Down!" That was the signal for the line of scrimmage to get ready. "Set!" Kyo listened to Jimmy bark out the calls. The he saw Jimmy pointing to a point in the defense. He took a quick glance and noticed it was between the safety and the defensive back. "Hut hut!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy, who caught and dropped back. The offensive line held the defensive line at bay, while the receivers sprinted from the line of scrimmage on their respective pass routes.

Kyo ran to the part where Jimmy had pointed to, and found himself between a safety and a defensive back. Jimmy found Kyo and threw to him, which Kyo caught. When he did, the coach blew his whistle, signifying the end of the play. "Good job, good job!" He said. However, he mentioned that there were some mistakes that were being made, but he did give Kyo kudos for successfully heeding Jimmy's advice on the pass route.

After two more hours, with the sun setting, the coaches declared the end of practice for the day.

"Damn, I'm gonna be sore for days!" Kyo said in the locker room after practice. "I feel as though I've run a marathon!"

"Didn't you have any hard practices in Japan?" Jimmy asked as he took of his shoulder pads.

"Yeah, but none as hard as this!" Kyo replied.

"Welcome to America, then," said Jimmy. "Summer camp should have given you a preview of what you were getting into. And if you're sore now, just wait until your first game!"

"I think he'll be used to it by then," said Josh. "Most likely he'll be used to it by the time we have to play Ohio State."

"Hey!" Kyo was not amused by Hanson's dig at him.

"Let go of it Sohma," Jimmy said. "He's just teasing; I had to deal with that last year. Besides, you'll probably forget about the pain once the adrenaline starts flowing in-game."

"I know that," said Kyo.

"Okay, then!" Jimmy said cheerfully. How could this guy go from stern to cheerful in less than a second? He must be bipolar or something.

"Hey Marley," an anonymous freshman asked. "You're Rastafarian, right?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Marley asked in response. It was justified, since it seemed to come right the fuck out of nowhere. Even Kyo was surprised by it.

"Um, do you smoke the ganja?" That was even worse, and now he had the whole team looking at him.

"No, I don't," David replied. "First off, not all Rastamen smoke the ganja. And second, I don't smoke it because it makes you lazy. And I'm not lazy, as you can tell."

"And because O'Leary wouldn't let him smoke it anyway," Jimmy cracked.

"Thank you for that joke, Jimmy," Marley said sarcastically. "Now does that answer your question?"

"Um, yeah, it does," said the freshman.

"Good, then let's not speak of it again." Marley then turned to Kyo and said, "You know, if you're hurting, you might want to go in a hot tub."

"I might try that," Kyo said. "You mean on of those one-person ones?"

"That's pretty much what he meant," said Jimmy.

Marley was right. A good 20-minute soak in the hot tub later, and Kyo was feeling a lot better but still sore. Hell, he needed a shower. But he felt like doing it back at the apartment instead of in the locker room. And he was hungry, too. When he and Jimmy got back to their apartment, they collapsed on different chairs, both exhausted from the practice and the walk back to the Tower. Guess that's what you get for working in the Florida heat.

"I'm starving!" said Jimmy. "Maybe we should use that rice cooker you seemed determined to get."

"Sounds like a good idea," Kyo said as he pulled himself off his chair to get some rice from the cupboard. Like the dude he is, he took a big whiff of his armpits and recoiled at what he smelled. "Damn, I smell like shit," he said as he put the rice in.

"Maybe next time, you shouldn't do that," said Jimmy. "I don't think your girlfriend would like it if you do that."

"I guess I need a shower," said Kyo. "I'd better take one now while the rice is cooking." Kyo took off his shirt, much to Jimmy's displeasure.

"Dude, wait until you're in the shower to do that," he said. That's when the door opened. "Please knock when you're coming in!" he said.

"That's not a nice thing to say to a lady!" Karen said. "I brought Tohru with me." The two entered anyway, just in time to see Kyo shirtless. Karen did not react, but Tohru—

"Oh, my," she said as she took a look at Kyo's chiseled muscles. She turned beet red and suddenly, blood came spurting out of her nose and she practically fainted.

"Is her nose bleeding?" Jimmy asked. "How did that happen?"

"I don't know, but help me out with her anyway," said Karen. "And put a shirt on, Kyo!"

"Like I said, wait until you're in the bathroom to take your shirt off, dude!" Jimmy said. Kyo did what he was asked, and put his shirt on while he, Jimmy and Karen tried to revive Tohru once they got her in the room and sitting on a chair. It took a minute, but she managed to wake up.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You fainted when you saw Kyo shirtless," said Karen. "Jimmy, can you get your first aid kit? I'm going to have to treat her nosebleed."

"Gotcha." Jimmy got the first aid kit out and got some gauze out for Karen to put on Tohru's nose.

"We're going to have to apply pressure to that for 5 to 20 minutes. And I suggest you keep your head forward," said Karen. Tohru did as she was told, and pinched her nose as well. After sometime, the bleeding managed to stop and now the bigger question was asked. "Why did you get a nosebleed when you saw Kyo?"

"Um, I don't know," she said. "I've never seen him shirtless before, that might be a reason."

"It's best we not mention that again, since she might get another nosebleed," said Jimmy. "Of course, I'm not really sure how you get a nosebleed like that, I only get them when I get punched in the nose."

"Maybe it's because it's like she said," Karen said. "She probably hasn't seen Kyo shirtless."

"Hey, look on the bright side, at least she thinks you're sexy, dude!" Jimmy joked to Kyo. Kyo just blushed beet red. "Come on, lighten up dude, it's great when your girlfriend thinks you're sexy!"

"Great," Kyo said.

"You know, you should take a shower, Kyo," Karen said. "Even thou—"

"Not right now," said Jimmy. "We don't want that nose to act up again. Why don't you take her to the RA so he can get a good look at her?"

"Okay, then," said Karen. "Come on Tohru; let's get you to the RA."

"Um, okay," Tohru said.

"Hey Karen, by the way, how did you convince Tohru to wear short shorts earlier?" Kyo asked.

"Oh, it was easy," said Karen. "I just said that you'd think she'd look good in them." Kyo blushed while Jimmy sniggered as Karen took Tohru out of the room.

As Kyo went to bed that night, he could still not help but feel excited. His first day of classes had gone well, and barring a few incidents, like Jimmy getting glomped by Taylor, Tohru wearing short shorts and getting a nosebleed, all in all it was pretty good. And he could definitely not wait for the first game of the year.

Notes

I must apologize to any UCF students reading this. I don't go to your school, so I don't know shit about the classes. I'll just try to mostly skim over them and focus on the student life.

And I apologize to gays about Jimmy's reaction. He really doesn't hate gays, he just doesn't like Taylor.


	4. First Game

Jimmy & Kyo, chapter 4: First Game

September 5, 2009

Brighthouse Networks Stadium, Orlando, Florida

There's always a tension that can be felt before a football game, especially a college football game. While most of the players in this locker room were pretty relaxed, a few of the players were pretty nervous; these players were mostly the freshmen on the University of Central Florida Knights football team. One in particular was an orange-haired young man by the name of Kyo Sohma.

The Japanese freshman was surprisingly not red-shirted by head coach George O' Leary, instead being on the team as a back-up wide receiver. And although he might—key word here being 'might'—not play tonight, the moment was still enough to give him knots in his stomach. He tried to remember a time when he was nervous like this. Maybe the time Kazuma revealed his monster form to Tohru counted, but he wasn't sure. Really, this nervousness should be out of character for him.

The rest of the team was getting their game faces on, preparing for their game ahead. Some, probably the older players, were a little more relaxed and even jovial before the game.

The team wore their home uniforms, gold jerseys with white shoulder stripes and white pants with gold stripes running up to mid-thigh. Both sets of stripes came to a point. The numbers themselves were a white block font with a black border. The helmet had a white shell and a black facemask with set of black, gold and black (in that order) running down the middle. The helmet logo was a block motion 'UCF' in gold with a black border. Their opponents tonight were the Richmond Spiders of the NCAA Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision (D-1 FCS in shorthand) Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

But that's enough about the technical details. Warm-ups were over and the Knights were waiting for the cue to take the field. As stated a few times before, Kyo was nervous; _very_nervous.

"Hey Sohma, you okay?" Kyo was jolted out of his thoughts by a sudden voice. He looked up to see his brown-haired, brown-eyed roommate—and UCF quarterback—Jimmy Michaels, #5.

"I'm just nervous," Kyo replied. To clear things up, he's # 80. "Were you ever nervous?"

"Are you kidding?" he asked. "Of course I was nervous before my first game; especially when we played UCLA in the Rose Bowl stadium, even though it was my second game. My stomach was tied up in 7 different kinds of knots. Of course we won that game. Look, just calm down. Everyone's nervous before their first game. Some people aren't but that doesn't matter."

"Well that's reassuring," Kyo said with minor sarcasm on his voice.

"Just relax," Jimmy said. "By the way, let me see your helmet." Kyo handed Jimmy his helmet, and Jimmy took a look at it. "Riddell Revolution Speed, huh?" He asked. Kyo nodded.

"O' Leary suggested I use it," he said.

"Well, personally, I don't like the Revo Speed," Jimmy said. "I think they're ugly. I prefer the Revo standard." He held up his helmet, which was a standard Riddell Revolution helmet with a basic facemask for a Quarterback.

"So how do you stay calm in a big game?" Kyo asked.

"I remember what my dad told Scott and I: 'just treat it as a regular game. Don't get worked up too much, just treat it like a normal game and you'll be fine'."

"That… sounds good," Kyo said. "I think I'll try that."

"There you go!" Jimmy said as he gave Kyo's shoulder pads a little tap. "Alright then," he said as he put his helmet on. "I'm ready!"

Kyo himself put his helmet on. "I guess I'm ready," he said.

"Good man!" Jimmy said, "By the way, it your girlfriend here?"

"No," Kyo replied. "She's helping my cousin's cousin prepare for a party, so she's not here.

"Oh, that sucks," Jimmy said. "Then at least make her go to the Ohio State game."

"Gladly!" Kyo said.

"Alright, everyone gather up!" Coach O' Leary shouted to all the players in the locker room. They then gathered around him and listened to his pre-game speech.

In the stands of the rectangular shaped stadium, Karen sat in the front row in the student section on the south end of the stadium. It was a packed house, no doubt thanks to the last season's success and the fans were hoping for a repeat or better this year. The stadium was awash in the UCF colors, black and gold. Only a small section in the north end was filled with red and blue, the colors of the Richmond Spiders. But unfortunately for Kyo, Tohru was not in the house; instead she was, as mentioned previously, at Makoto's house helping him get his house prepared for a party that he was hosting. At least the game would be on TV, though and in all likelihood, Makoto would have the game on for Tohru to watch.

The UCF marching band, the Marching Knights had finished their rendition of the 'Star-Spangled Banner' and had moved to a tunnel on the western end of the south end of the stadium and formed their own tunnel, no doubt for the team to run through. The stadium clock continued to run down until kickoff, and the atmosphere in the stadium was starting to get charged up. On the scoreboard in the northern end, the UCF Knights logo was shown on a black field on the Jumbotron as epic-sounding music began to play over the PA system. At the same time, pictures of UCF greats were displayed on the Jumbotron. Then, the music shifted to the piece 'He's a Pirate' from the _Pirates of the Caribbean_soundtrack [1] as various highlights of great plays from UCF history played as well, from Daunte Culpepper to UCF's near upset of Texas two years ago to Jimmy.

Underneath the stands, the players were now making their way to the tunnel where they would take the field. The sound of the PA could be heard underneath the stands, as well as the crowd noise. It must have been working, because Kyo could feel himself getting excited; or as some would say, getting pumped.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Jimmy said. "I guess they listened to me! And yes, this was my idea," he said to Kyo. Jimmy had answered Kyo's question before he could even ask. Kyo and some of the other players just shook their heads.

"Damn Jimmy, I liked the Kernkraft intro," said Josh Hanson, # 21. "It got me ready!"

"It sucked for me," said Jimmy. "I wanted the Sox intro!"

"Just relax you two," said Jim Oakley # 81. "I think this is fine."

"Hell yeah man," said Charles Jones, # 65. "This is a good intro."

"At least everybody else agrees," Jimmy said. Then, they heard the music shift.

Karen and the rest of the fans cheered loudly as the montage of great UCF moments ended. Then, it changed and the song 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC began to play. Now, the people in the stands stood up, thanks to the PA announcer yelling, "_UCF fans, ON! YOUR! FEET!_" The sound of rhythmic clapping and foot stomping could be heard all across the stadium, as anyone who wanted to stomped their feet on the aluminum stands. The UCF students, meanwhile, could be seen jumping up and down to the music.

When the team reached the tunnel where they would exit, they could hear the music much more clearly and simply waited for the cue to take the field. Jimmy could be seen jumping up and down, clearly excited for the moment to come. The other players were ready. Kyo felt like the only one who was nervous. Finally, they got the cue when the song hit 55 seconds [2] and the PA announcer could be heard bellowing, "_Heeeeeeeeerrrrrreeeeeee coooooome the KNIIIIIIIIIGGGHHHHHTTTS!"_In that exact moment, the 40,000 fans in Brighthouse Networks Stadium roared like a jet engine as the team charged on to the field.

Kyo felt like a feather or something like that. But whatever it was, it was completely surreal being surrounded by all these fans in a foreign land with people he barely knew. Of course, before he came here, he was a brash young man, but this was different. Now he was just beginning to wonder just what in the world he had gotten into! He wasn't even sure of his own playing talent! But as long as Tohru would be watching—even if it was on TV—he felt fine.

After the Knights got their sideline, the Richmond Spiders took their field. They wore white jerseys with red stripes separating the torso from the shoulder and navy blue pants. Their helmet was all navy blue with a red stripe running down the middle and a red spider silhouette was their helmet logo. The word 'Richmond' was scrawled on their jersey just above the numbers on the front and the CAA logo was on the right breast. Their numbers were block navy blue with a red border.

"Gather around!" Jimmy said as he took off his helmet. The other players gathered around him. Then, he threw his head back and yelled, "WE!"

The other players, Kyo included, called back, "_WE!"_

"WE DON'T!" Jimmy shouted again.

"_WE DON'T!"_

"WE DON'T MESS!"

"_WE DON'T MESS!"_

"WE DON'T MESS AROUND—"

"_HEY! WE DON'T MESS AROUND, HEY! WE DON'T MESS AROUND, HEY!"_ The other players chanted the phrase, getting pumped and ready. Even Kyo could feel the effects, even though he most likely wasn't playing tonight. But he could feel his nervousness leave him for excitement instead.

Now it was time for the coin toss. Four UCF players, David Marley, Josh Stevens (# 17), and two other guys walked out to the center of the field to meet some players from the Richmond side. The captains, as they're called (obviously) shook hands and the referee spoke: "Richmond is the visiting team, so they get to choose."

"We chose heads," said a Richmond player. The referee flipped the coin and in landed on the ground.

"It's tails." The crowd roared. "UCF, you have won the toss, what do you want to do?"

"We'll receive," said David Marley. Then the two sets of captains, lined up, each facing and endzone. The Knights captains faced the south endzone while the Richmond captains faced the south endzone. The two captain sets shook hands, as did the rest of the players before going back to the sideline.

"I'M GONNA LIGHT THESE MOTHERFUCKERS UP TONIGHT!" Jimmy shouted as he got back to the sideline. Kyo his head at Jimmy as the kickoff teams prepared. Now the Kernkraft sound could be heard, but it wasn't the main part—yet. Then, the kickoff teams for each time ran on to the field and the nose of the crowd increased. At that point, 40,000 fans, even old ladies began to jump, the students even more so. The Richmond kicker prepared his kick. David Marley and Josh Stevens were deep to receive. The Richmond kicker raised his hand and the referee blew his whistle. On each sideline, both teams raised their helmets above their heads as the crowd noise escalated and the Richmond kicker ran forward and kicked the ball towards the endzone.

The ball tumbled end over end for a few seconds before David Marley caught it a yard in the end zone and took it out from there. Marley cut right, then left when a pair of Richmond defenders got close and took the opportunity to gain some good yardage. He did get out to the Knights' 30-yard line, though, before he was brought down by a swarm of Richmond defenders.

The UCF starting offense gathered around O' Leary, who gave them a few points before they trotted out on to the field. Kyo was not one of them, instead he watched from the sidelines. As the offense trotted out, he could clearly hear the chants of "_JIM-MY MI-CHAELS!_ (x, x, x-x-x [3]) _JIM-MY MI-CHAELS!_(x, x, x-x-x) _JIM-MY MI-CHAELS!_ (x, x, x-x-x)" Jimmy, of course, ate it up big time. Kyo shook his head; what an attention whore.

The offense broke the huddle and set up in a spread formation; Jimmy lined up about 5 yards behind the center Charles Jones. There were five receivers; David Marley, Josh Stevens (# 20), DeShawn Johnson of Ocala, Florida, # 22 on the near side. On the far side was Jim Oakley and Josh Hanson (who was a receiver for this particular play).

Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy, who dropped back and scrambled out of the pocket, towards the UCF sideline. It was there he noticed DeShawn Johnson downfield. Jimmy immediately threw to Johnson. Johnson dove and caught the ball for a 15 yard gain.

The crowd roared, and Kyo could see Jimmy pump his fist as the other players gathered around in the huddle. The huddle broke, and once again, the offense got into a shotgun formation, with Jimmy barking the commands to his players.

"Set… HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy, and he dropped back a couple yards and prepared to throw. He spotted David Marley 5 yards from the line of scrimmage on his right and threw to him. Marley caught the ball and evaded the Richmond linebacker with a quick spin move and darted into the open field.

"_There's no one to stop him!_"

Marley sprinted down the field, with the UCF crowd growling louder. He managed to gain 30 yards before a Richmond cornerback managed to bring him down.

"_Jimmy Michaels' pass to David Marley complete!"_ The PA announcer said. "_Gain of 30 yards, enough for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_The UCF student section helped the PA announcer finish his sentence. The Knights were now on the Richmond 25 yard line, well within striking distance.

For the next play, the Knights got into a simple I-formation with Marley as the lone receiver and Josh Hanson and Roger Wolarski in at the running back. Two tight ends were in, Henry Thompson of Orlando # 42 on the left, and Desmond Gregory of Pahokee, Florida # 13 on the right. Jimmy came in under center.

"Set, HUT!" The play began and Jimmy quickly backed up and handed the ball off to Hanson. Wolarski himself went to block. Using the very opening Wolarski made, Hanson slipped between the Richmond defenders again for a gain. But this time be was brought down on the 12-yard line; another first down for UCF.

Once again, the UCF offense lined up in a shotgun formation with 5 receivers. Kyo watched as Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy who scrambled out of the pocket to the right side of the field. Jimmy threw into the end zone, connecting with Byron Johnson.

"_TOUCHDOWN, UCF!_" The crowd roared, and Kyo could see the other players celebrating in the end zone for a few moments before coming off and allowing the field goal team come on to the field for the extra point. In the background, the UCF Marching Knights played the UCF Fight Song as kicker Gary Hoover of Nashville, Tennessee # 99 got ready for the extra point with punter Fred Kline of Clearwater # 97 holding. The long snapper snapped the ball the Kline, who held the ball for Hoover who then kicked the ball through the uprights for the extra point.

"Nice start! Nice start!" One of the coaches said to the offense. He other players sat down on one of the benches as the offensive coach gave them some pointers about the previous series. Since Kyo wasn't in the game, was still watching from the sidelines.

After UCF kicked off to Richmond, the defense took the field. And boy, were they big! Well, compared to Kyo, anyway. He watched the defense line up in a nickel formation while Richmond set up in an I-formation. The Richmond quarterback received the snap and scrambled out of the pocket and threw to a receiver about 5 yards downfield. While the UCF fans reacted poorly, the Richmond fans could be heard celebrating.

Kyo felt thirsty, even though he had yet to take the field so he went back to the Gatorade cooler and poured himself something. At the same time, he heard the crowd react to another Richmond play, this one another negative play for UCF. Kyo quickly got back to see the Richmond player taken down at the 10-yard line. "Damn!" He said to himself.

"They're rusty," a voice said from behind. He looked to his left to see Jimmy walk up next to him. "Either that or it's that Richmond is pretty good. They are defending FCS champs, after all."

"I guess that makes sense," Kyo said. Then play began again, this time with the Richmond quarterback sending a floater into the end zone and was caught for a touchdown. Naturally, the Richmond contingent went crazy, while the UCF fans groaned.

"Dammit!" Jimmy shouted in reaction. "Ah, well. We'll get 'em anyway."

In another part of Orlando, Tohru was at Makoto's house, helping him prepare for a party that he was hosting on Sunday. This is pretty much the reason she wasn't at Kyo's first football game, but at least he understood this. She was mainly helping him prepare the _hor d'oeurves_for the party. In the background, she could hear the sounds of the television, but she couldn't tell what was on. She was just focused on the food. That is, until Makoto came into the kitchen. "Tohru, the game's on Sun Sports if you want to know," he said.

"Oh, is Kyo playing?" She asked.

"Not to my knowledge," Makoto replied. "But if he is playing, I'll let you know. UCF is currently on the Richmond 40-yard line and the score is tied at 7."

"Okay," Tohru said.

"_TOUCHDOWN, UCF!"_

In a show of skill, Jimmy had just thrown a laser over the heads of the Richmond players and into the hands of DeShawn Johnson. It was there Johnson showed why Jimmy said he was a prize recruit. Johnson first juked right then left and avoided two Richmond defenders. Kyo watched in amazement as Johnson turned on the jets and ran the rest of the way in for the UCF touchdown.

"Wow," he said to himself. "He's good."

"You have no idea," said Wolarski (who wasn't in this particular play).

"Damn," Kyo said. He seemed to be saying that quite a bit lately.

The offense came off the field again, as the special teams went for the extra point. The PAT [3] try was good as the kick split the uprights. Now UCF led 14-7 with 6 minutes left in the first quarter.

"Oh, that was fast," Tohru said as she checked on the game again.

"What happened?" Makoto asked as he poked his head in the TV room.

"UCF is ahead 14-7," Tohru said. "I think they just made a touchdown."

"That was fast," Makoto said. "I guess that DeShawn Johnson guy is pretty good after all."

" DeShawn Johnson?" Tohru asked. "Who's he?"

"He's a prize recruit for UCF," Makoto said. "He's supposed to be one of the best wide receivers in the country."

"Oh my goodness!" Tohru said in surprise. "That's amazing!"

Well, right now we're going to skip ahead a few minutes to the beginning of the second quarter. The game was tied at 14, with Richmond having scored after a longer drive than the UCF drive. The situation on the Knights' sideling was sort of tense, but not desperate. They knew they could win this game; it was only a matter of time before they managed to break the game open.

The Knights were once again on defense, with Richmond threatening to score again, as they were on the UCF 20-yard line. But that was about to change; especially since it was 3 down and 5 yards to go.

"Set… HUT!" The Richmond quarterback received the snap and dropped back to pass. He would have gotten the throw off had the linebacker, number 45 not come in and drag him to the ground in a rugby-style tackle. At that moment, the UCF fans exploded.

"_Eric Ward brought down in the backfield, tackle made by number 45, George Rooney! Loss of 4 on the play!"_

"There we go!" Jimmy shouted as he pumped his fist. He was standing right next to Kyo on the sidelines. The defense mostly stayed on the field though, since they had to defend against the Richmond field goal attempt. Once again, the noise level in the stadium rose to loud levels, and the student section could be heard in the South endzone chanting,

"_BLOCK THAT KICK! BLOCK THAT KICK! BLOCK THAT KICK!"_

The noise continued as the Richmond holder called for the snap. The long-snapper sent the ball to the holder, who did his job for the kicker, who then approached. Now it may seem strange that the UCF fans were pretty tense about a field goal only 2 minutes into the second quarter, but that's the way things were as the kicker booted the ball to the uprights. The fans and players watched the ovoid sphere tumble through the air with held breaths.

Then, things went perfect when the ball sailed past the uprights, and the referees signaled 'no good'. At that point, the noise level reached near-deafening levels.

"Wide right! Wide right!" Jimmy called as he put his helmet on and trotted out onto the field. Kyo, desperate for some playing time, looked to the coach on the sideline.

"Sorry Sohma," the coach said. "I'd love to put you in, but coach Taaffe says no." Kyo hung his head in disappointment as he watched the Knights offense execute another play from their 24-yard line.

Jimmy handed the ball of to Josh Hanson, who took the ball up the middle for a 5-yard gain before being brought down. "_Josh Hanson the ball carrier; brought down by number 8, Colin McConaghy; 5 yard gain, result of the play is a 2nd__and 5."_

Kyo watched from the sidelines as Jimmy and the offense lined up in a spread formation again with Hanson next to Jimmy. Jimmy took the snap from Jones and faked the hand-off to Hanson before dropping back and throwing a 4-yard pass to DeShawn Johnson who ran for 3 more yards before being brought down again. "_Gain of seven yards, enough for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_ Kyo shrugged and walked over to the bench and sat down. He suspected he wasn't going to play tonight, so he felt he might as well just rest for now.

Although he was sitting on the bench, his five senses were being bombarded by the stadium. He could hear the crowd chatter and the chatter of his teammates and the marching band playing a familiar song. He could smell the food—the hot dogs, maybe some burgers. He could also smell the grass. He felt the smooth plastic of his helmet and he could still taste the Gatorade. But most of all, he could see Jimmy and the offense getting ready for the next play.

The offense lined up on the UCF 36-yard line in an I-formation with Josh Hanson behind Jimmy and Roger Wolarski behind Hanson. David Marley was to the left of the line of scrimmage and DeShawn Johnson was on the right. "Set… HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to him and he dropped back, faking the hand-off to Hanson and then handed the ball off to Wolarski.

Wolarski took the ball and charged through the Richmond defensive line like a battering ram. He powered through them and eventually broke out, sprinting towards the sideline and towards the south endzone. However, his legs were tied up by a Richmond cornerback and was brought down.

"_Roger Wolarski the ball carrier_;" the PA announcer called. "_Gain of fifteen yards, enough for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

UCF was now on the Richmond 49-yard line, which is just one yard beyond midfield. The offense lined up again in a Pistol formation. Jimmy lined up four yards behind Charles Jones and Josh Hanson was three yards behind Jimmy. The three wide receivers were, from left to right: David Marley, Jim Oakley and DeShawn Johnson.

"Set… HUT HUT!" Jimmy took the snap and faked the hand-off to Hanson before dropping back to pass. He looked for a receiver to throw to and found David Marley running down the Richmond sideline. However, he noticed that he was being covered by a Richmond cornerback and looked for a different target. He noticed DeShawn Johnson in the clear on the right and decided to throw to him.

Johnson caught the ball and turned on the jets. Kyo watched Johnson again outrun the Richmond defense. It almost looked like a Usain Bolt race. And just like that, Johnson had run the rest of the way and found the endzone easily.

"_TOUCHDOWN, UCF!"_ The crowd erupted again, this time much louder than the missed field goal; which is obvious.

After their celebration, the offense came back to the sideline feeling pumped up. It seemed as though the momentum had tipped in UCF's favor.

As the offense came back, Kyo got a look at Johnson. He was much bigger than him, standing probably 6 feet, 4 inches. He towered even above the older players. But there was something Kyo noticed; he was favoring his right leg. Whatever it was, it seemed to be minor.

"Tohru!" Makoto called from his TV room. Tohru was just taking out a plate in the kitchen when Makoto called to her. "The Knights just scored, it's now 21-14. Deshawn Johnson caught a 10-yard pass and ran 38 yards for the touchdown."

"Wow," Tohru said in shock. "Is he good?"

"Very good," Makoto said.

Skipping ahead again—which is probably starting to piss off the readers—we return to the action after halftime and the beginning of the 3rd quarter. The score was still 21-14, as the Spiders and Knights had both made a series of defensive stops.

UCF was kicking off to Richmond this time, since they had received the kick-off to start the game.

The Richmond receiver caught the ball at the 2-yard line and took it from there. However, he didn't get very far and was taken down after a return of only 15 yards.

The UCF defense came out again, defending the north endzone; at the end of each quarter, each team switches endzones. Since UCF started attacking the north endzone, they were defending it in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.

The Richmond quarterback, Eric Ward, took the snap and dropped back to pass. Ward released the ball throwing to an open receiver on the Spiders' sideline. The receiver caught the ball, just out of reach of a UCF cornerback. The receiver sprinted down the sideline, making it into the endzone.

The air in the Brighthouse escaped like air leaving a balloon. What had at first seemed like a sure win was starting to turn against them. But then they heard the words that made the situation better. "_There is a flag on the play._"

The officials gathered near the Richmond 17-yard line, which is around where the line of scrimmage was. Kyo and the rest of the team watched nervously before the referee turned on his mic.

"Holding, number 65 on the offense. 10 yard penalty, 2nd down!"

At those words, the UCF fans erupted. The sideline erupted as well, and the once-loud Richmond contingent had the wind knocked out of them.

Well, after that Richmond was stopped by the now-tough UCF defense, who had gotten into the groove after the first two series. One fourth-and 15, Richmond was forced to punt. Brett Welgand was back to punt for Richmond while DeShawn Johnson was back to receive for the Knights.

The Richmond long-snapper snapped to Welgand who punted to Johnson. Johnson was forced to backtrack a few yards, as Welgand kicked it pretty far. However, Johnson caught the ball around the UCF 15-yard line—heck of a kick—and took it from there. And once again, Johnson turned on the jets and took off.

Kyo watched in amazement—again—as Johnson weaved in and out of the Richmond defenders. The guy was so damn good it wasn't even funny. But Kyo could only worry about that right leg and he thought it was only as matter of time before that leg got to him.

He was right.

Around the UCF 49-yard line, a Richmond defender finally got to him and hit him hard. Kyo couldn't tell, but from what it looked like, he got hit in a bad spot and was taken down.

At first it didn't look like much, but when Johnson didn't get up, the referee immediately called a time-out for the injured Knight. "_We have an injured Knight on the field,_" the PA announcer said._"Number 22, DeShawn Johnson, the injured Knight_." The air in the stadium once again deflated as the athletic trainers rushed out to tend to Johnson.

After a few minutes of waiting, Johnson was lifted off the field and carried off by the trainers. All 50,000 fans, both UCF and Richmond, stood up and applauded Johnson. Also, the offense trotted out to the field. Kyo watched as Johnson was carried back to the sideline. He could see under his helmet a look of pure agony and—

"Eighty, get in there!" Kyo's thoughts were interrupted when the coach called to him, or at least his number. Instinctively, he pointed to himself just to be sure. "Was I talking to anyone else? Get your ass in there, now!"

"Yes, sir!" Kyo shouted. He quickly sprinted out onto the field while putting his helmet on. At the time, all he was thinking about was getting to the huddle and putting his helmet on; which he did. He then joined the offense on the 44-yard line.

"Hey Sohma," Jimmy said. "You think you can handle this?"

"Yeah," Kyo said. "I'm good." Jimmy looked at him for a while longer and a small smile appeared on his face.

"Nice," he said. "Alright guys, listen up." Kyo nodded his head as Jimmy read the play to the players. "Got that?"

"_BREAK!_" All 11 offensive players clapped and walked up to the ball. Kyo knew the play and he was on the left of the line of scrimmage. The Knights lined up in a spread offense. On the right of the line of scrimmage were David Marley, Josh Stevens and Jim Oakley. On the left were Byron Johnson and Kyo.

Now it may have seemed like Kyo wasn't nervous, but that was shattered as soon as he lined up. Kyo was practically trembling in his cleats. His heart was beating faster than a drag racer and he was sweating more than a dog in a restaurant.

Jimmy, meanwhile, was thinking about whether Kyo could actually handle the pressure. So he felt he might as well see if he's any good. "DOWN! SET!" Kyo listened to Jimmy call out the signals, waiting for Jimmy to call for the play to begin. "HUT HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy and Kyo took off from his spot on the line of scrimmage.

Jimmy skipped back to pass and looked for an open receiver. He noticed Kyo about 5 yards away. Kyo's pass route called for him to run straight for about 10 yards and then cut to the right. Since this was an easy play for Kyo, he felt this might work. Kyo indeed cut inside and Jimmy threw a bullet to Kyo.

Kyo watched as Jimmy threw down the middle. He himself had cut inside and was trying to avoid the Richmond linebackers. For some reason, he ceased to hear anything and the play slowed down. It was like many a clichéd scene in those sports movies. Kyo reached out as the ball came to him and he stretched to try and catch it.

He felt the tip of the ball strike his hands and he made the catch. Then he pulled the ball in and found himself falling to the ground as the Richmond safety got to him. But he felt his left knee touch the ground and the rest of his body follow through. He wasn't too sure about what was going on, because he felt a Richmond defender fall on him and his vision blacked out.

The next thing Kyo heard was the referee's whistle blowing. His vision returned and he saw the referee wave the play dead. The referee reached for Kyo and said, "Hand me the ball, son." Kyo did so and was then helped up by a Richmond defender. He wasn't sure what was going on until he heard the words,

"_Jimmy Michaels' pass to #80, Kyo Sohma complete; gain of 11 yards, enough for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!_" Naturally, Kyo was astonished. First down? Not bad, really.

Meanwhile, Tohru had ducked out of the kitchen to watch the game for a few seconds when she caught the play. She didn't see who the receiver was, but she listened anyway.

"…_Kyo Sohma, who came in for DeShawn Johnson makes the catch…_"

"Kyo!" She called out in surprise. Apparently, Makoto heard her.

"What about him?" He asked.

"The man narrating the game said that Kyo made that catch!" She said, her face showing some confusion, as if she didn't know if he was kidding.

"Huh," Makoto said. "Looks like Johnson's out of the game. What did they say about him?"

"They said it was an 11-yard gain," Tohru said. "I'm not sure what that means, though."

"It means he got the first down," Makoto said. "That's a good thing." Naturally, Tohru's face turned into a smile at the news.

_Oh my!_She thought. _Kyo's doing good!_

A couple plays later, the Knights were on the Spiders' 10-yard line and threatening to score. The Knights lined up in an Ace, or Single set back formation, with Josh Hanson five yards behind Jimmy and four receivers in the play. Byron Johnson and David Marley lined up to the left of the line of scrimmage and Kyo and Jim Oakley lined up on the right. Jimmy went in under center. "Set… HUT!" Jones snapped the ball and the offensive and defensive lines crashed into each other.

Jimmy dropped back and faked the hand-off to Josh Hanson before getting ready to throw. Jimmy looked quickly for an open receiver, but he couldn't find one. Marley and Johnson were being covered and Oakley had tripped up just before the endzone. That just left Kyo. Jimmy shrugged slightly and threw a bullet to Kyo.

Once again, Kyo had to lunge for Jimmy's throw and made the catch before pulling the ball in. His body fell to the ground and he curled himself into a ball and rolled around on the ground before watching the referee raise his hands in the air. Kyo's eyes widened as he saw the signal: touchdown.

"_TOUCHDOWN, UCF!_" The crowd erupted, and the other offensive players ran over to Kyo as he got up off the ground. He was suddenly swarmed by the other players.

"Damn, Sohma!" Byron Johnson said. "That was a damn good catch!"

"Not bad!" Jimmy said as he ran up to Kyo and patted him on the back of the head. "I didn't think you could get that catch!"

Kyo, who was at first nervous about the situation, felt a smile on his face. And one that was wider than his face.

At Makoto's house, Tohru applauded at Kyo's touchdown. Well, actually, it was more like she went nuts. "YAY!" She shouted, loud enough to wake up the house next door and other houses two doors down. Naturally, Makoto was alerted.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Kyo just made a touchdown!" Tohru shouted, still excited about what happened.

"He did?" Makoto asked. "Wow, I didn't expect that to happen. What's the score now?"

"I think it's 28-14," Tohru said. "I think I like football now."

Once again, we're going to skip ahead (but for the last time) to the final seconds of the game. After Kyo's touchdown, UCF finally broke the game wide open and scored 4 more times for a score of 56-14. A back-up quarterback was in play as the Knights were preparing to take a knee to end the game. The UCF sideline was already celebrating; it was justified since there was only 27 seconds left in the game. Parts of the stadium were empty, but not the whole place. It was probably only 3/5 full.

Kyo had not scored again, but he did make 3 more catches for a total of 50 yards receiving. David Marley, Josh Hanson, Jimmy (quarterback keeper) and Jim Oakley all scored the last four times for the Knights.

Jimmy, of course, was all smiles. "Not a bad start," he said as he watched the back-up take the snap and take a knee. As the final seconds ticked down, the fans stood up and applauded. Finally, the clocked ticked down to 0.

"_Final score, UCF 56, Richmond 14_."

With the game over, both teams came out to midfield and each player shook hands. Jimmy and Eric Ward both shook hands, while Kyo spent some time with the Richmond receivers.

Finally, the swarm dissipated and the Knights ran over to the south endzone where the student section was. Kyo looked to see Jimmy and David Marley talking to reporters, so it would be a while before they finished up and joined the team. Finally, their interviews were over and they ran over to the student section.

The students, Karen especially roared when Jimmy ran over to the endzone. "_JIM-MY MI-CHAELS!_ (x, x, x-x-x ) _JIM-MY MI-CHAELS!_(x, x, x-x-x) _JIM-MY MI-CHAELS!_ (x, x, x-x-x)" Jimmy, of course, lapped it up and skipped around at the chants. Kyo shook his head, thinking Jimmy was letting the praise get to his head. When that was done, Jimmy ran up to Kyo and patted him on the back.

"Not bad," he said. "Not bad for a debut!"

"Not bad?" Kyo asked. "Why just that? Why not call it great?"

"Well, because that was just your debut," Jimmy said. "Maybe once you get going I'll start calling you great."

In the locker room, Coach O' Leary was lauding his players on the game they just played. "I thought the first half was a little sloppy," he said. "We could have beaten them by much more than what we did, but hey, we did good in the second half." The players applauded. "I have to give praise to some of you guys for your performances. Jimmy, you did a good job. I liked your composure, and your enthusiasm. Mr. Sohma," O'Leary's words got Kyo's attention. "Not bad. I wasn't so sure if you'd panic, but looks like I was wrong. Nice job out there."

"Thanks coach," Kyo said.

"Hey coach," Oakley said. "What about DeShawn Johnson?"

"Well, we're not sure yet," O' Leary said. "He's going to have to have an MRI, they think it might be a torn ACL." The atmosphere again deflated.

"Damn," said Marley. "That's not good."

"It's okay," O' Leary said. "We can do well without him. We already have a good team, we don't have to worry about it."

One hour later, Jimmy and Kyo finally got back to their apartment. The physical effects of the game had already gotten to Kyo. "Damn I'm sore," he said. "My legs feel like jelly."

"Yeah, it gets to you," Jimmy said. "Any sport can make you sore."

"I have to lie down!" Kyo said as he flopped down on the couch. Jimmy sat down on his desk chair and spread his legs out. "Feels good to relax," Kyo said.

"You said it," Jimmy replied. Just then, they heard someone knocking on their door.

"Who could that be?" Kyo asked.

"I don't know," Jimmy replied. "Who is it?"

"It's Karen!" The person on the other side of the door called. "And Tohru's with me, she just got back."

"Oh. Come in!" Jimmy said. The door opened and Karen and Tohru walked in before Karen charged Jimmy and nearly tackled him in a hug. "Karen, you don't have to be so rough!" He said.

"I don't care," she said. "You did great tonight!"

"Oh thanks Karen," Jimmy said. He grabbed her cheek and pulled her into a kiss. Kyo thought that was the first time he had seen the two kiss each other. The two eventually broke it off and Karen licked her lips.

"That tasted like Gatorade," she said. "But it still felt good."

"I guess so," Jimmy said.

"I think you did well too, Kyo," Tohru said.

"But I didn't do much," Kyo said. "Jimmy just said I wasn't bad."

"That's good enough for me," she replied.

"Speaking of which," Karen said. "What about DeShawn Johnson? What happened to him?"

"He's going to have to get an MRI," Jimmy said. "O'Leary says the trainers think he might have torn his ACL."

"Oh," Karen said. "That's not good."

"Why?" Tohru asked. "What's wrong with that?"

"A torn ACL pretty much means his season's over," Jimmy said. "Depending on how bad it is, he may have to have surgery. It takes about 6 to 7 months to rehabilitate and recover from ACL surgery. From what it looked like, it was a pretty bad injury so he might be done."

"I actually saw him favoring that right leg," Kyo said. The other three looked at him in surprise once he shared that little tid bit.

"You saw him favoring it?" Jimmy asked. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I didn't know if it was serious!" Kyo said in response. "I thought it was nothing."

"Well," Jimmy said. "I guess that's true. I mean, I could see him favoring it, but I couldn't tell if that was the way he walked or if it was that knee."

"So what does this mean for Kyo?" Tohru asked.

"Well, depending on how the coaches react, it probably means that Sohma might become a starter," said Jimmy. Instantly, Tohru's face brightened like a mercury light bulb. Kyo's face was more confused, as he wasn't expecting that to happen.

"Did you hear that, Kyo!" Tohru said. "You might be a starter!"

"Wow," Kyo said. "That's great!" His face changed from confusion to happiness instantly. For some reason, he really was hoping DeShawn Johnson was out for the season. But he had to squash that thought instantly. It's not a good thing to wish someone injury.

"We'll have to see," Jimmy said. 'But I have no doubt you'll start next week against Southern Miss."

That Monday, Kyo went over to the UCF Student Union like he had been for the past few weeks on Mondays. He was going to meet Jimmy and the other members of the UCF offense there. As usual, the place was crawling with students and teachers, most of them discussing their classes.

After getting his lunch from Subway, Kyo looked for the other players. He found them when he noticed Jimmy waving to him, the brown colored, medium-length haired quarterback holding a newspaper. "Hey Sohma, get your ass over here!" He called to him. Kyo walked over to the table where Jimmy, David Marley, Charles Jones, Jim Oakley, Byron Johnson and Josh Hanson were sitting.

"So what's the story with DeShawn?" Kyo asked.

"Torn ACL," Charles replied. "Doctors say he's gonna be out for the season. He had his MRI yesterday at Central Florida Regional Hospital."

"Looks like you're gonna be a starter," Jimmy said as he looked at the newspaper, a copy of the _Central Florida Future_. "That is what you wanted right?"

"Oh yeah," Kyo said. "What does that newspaper say?"

"It says that O' Leary's still confident in us," Josh Hanson said. "And it talks about you."

"It does?" Kyo asked. He was interested. "What does it say?"

"It says that you had a decent debut," Oakley said. "Since you didn't really play much I guess that's a good thing."

"I think it's more neutral," Jimmy said. "But really, it's not bad. I mean, you got the whole season ahead of you. You can probably do pretty good."

"I hope so," Kyo said. But Jimmy didn't take that answer.

"You don't say 'I hope so'," he said. "You say that you will kick ass!"

"Okay then!" Kyo said, raising his voice. "I will kick ass!"

"Much better!" Jimmy said. "Now that that's settled, we need to get ready for Southern Miss. And then, we gotta get ready for Ohio State."

[1] In real life, this is not how UCF does their intro, instead playing 'Kernkraft 4000'. This is just for the story, as Jimmy would no doubt have some influence on the intro; this is actually based on the Chicago White Sox intro.

[2] Yes, I did find a part of the song that would be great for the players to run out at. It just shows how pathetic I am.

[3] (x) denotes clapping.

[4] Point After Touchdown

P.S.: I'm sorry, I didn't get this done when I should have. But since I just finished _The Swordsman and the Gunslinger_(which the characters are expies of these characters) I felt I needed to get the original story going again. Besides, I need to get to the Ohio State game.

Please review!


	5. Buildup to The Big Game

Jimmy & Kyo chapter 5: Buildup

September 12, 2009

M.M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

It was UCF's first Conference USA game against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. UCF, the road team, wore their road jerseys, which were the inverse of their home jerseys. Southern Miss wore their home "unis", black jerseys with the word 'Southern Miss' across the front and yellow pants. Their helmet was black with a gold stripe down the middle. Their logo was the words 'Southern' over 'Miss' in white with yellow borders with wing-like stripes popping out of the 'Miss'. Since there is not a lot of time to talk about the whole game, we will instead have a short recap of the plays prior to when the narration starts (hey, the narrator's breaking the fourth wall! He did it again!) And then go from there.

UCF had kicked off to Southern Miss and made a defensive stop on the Southern Miss 30-yard line. They then marched 65 yards to open up the scoring, with Josh Hanson finishing up with a 5-yard touchdown run. They then stopped the Eagles again after letting them get to the 50-yard line. UCF again marched down the field and scored on a touchdown pass from Jimmy Michaels to David Marley. After that, Southern Miss, led by quarterback Austin Davis, stormed down the field in just five minutes, bringing the score to 14-7.

After that, the Knights responded with an offensive show of force, storming downfield in less than three minutes, capped off by a touchdown pass from Jimmy to Jim Oakley from the Southern Miss 20-yard line. After that, score remained the same through halftime. That is, until Southern Miss forced a fumble on the kick-off and opened the second half with a touchdown, making the score 21-14. We now rejoin the action with 12 minutes to go in the third quarter and UCF with the ball at 2nd-and 6 on their own 45-yard line.

Kyo got into position to the left of the line of scrimmage. This was his first start, since DeShawn Johnson was out for the season with a torn ACL. The formation was a spread formation and the receivers on the left side were David Marley, Jim Oakley and Kyo. On the right were Josh Stevens and Byron Johnson. "Set… HUT!" Play began, and Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy.

Jimmy dropped back to pass and threw to Kyo. Kyo caught the ball 7 yards from the line of scrimmage before being brought down. The referee waved the play dead and signaled for a first down. Kyo got up again and rejoined the Knights in the huddle. "On two, on two, ready…"

"_BREAK!_" The Knights lined up in an Ace formation with Kyo on the right. It was 1st-and-10 on the Southern Miss 48-yard line.

"Down! Set!" Jimmy got in under center behind Jones. "Hut hut!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy and he handed the ball off to Josh Hanson. Hanson cut left and then cut right, slipping past the Golden Eagles defensive line. Hanson was then tripped up by a Southern Miss defender for an 8-yard gain.

It was now 2nd and 2 from the Southern Miss 40-yard line. The Knights lined up in a spread formation. Four receivers lined up and Josh Hanson lined up next to Jimmy. Jones snapped to Jimmy and he faked the hand-off to Hanson before dropping back to pass. He had David Marley, Kyo Sohma, Josh Stevens and Jim Oakley to choose from in terms of receivers. But he noticed David Marley running down the sideline and decided to throw to him.

Jimmy heaved the ball downfield just as the Golden Eagle linebacker got to him. Marley indeed caught the ball around the 25-yard line, and his momentum was enough that he tripped up and fell to the ground as soon as he caught the ball. But he did gain enough after the catch that the Knights were now on the 15-yard line.

This time, the Knights lined up in a Pistol formation. Oakley, Marley and Kyo were in at wide receiver, Henry Thompson in at tight end. Jimmy lined up four yards behind Jones and Hanson was 3 yards behind him. At Jimmy's signal, Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy. Jimmy then faked the hand-off and scrambled out of the pocket to the right side. He quickly began looking for an open receiver, finding Kyo headed for the end zone. He instantly threw to Kyo.

Kyo watched as Jimmy released the ball. The Southern Miss defenders swarmed around him but he managed to get free to where he thought the ball was coming to him. He got free and reached out to try and catch the ball…

But the ball bounced out of his hands and fell to the ground. The referee came in, blowing his whistle and signaling an incomplete pass. Kyo felt horrible, as he felt he blew what could have been an easy touchdown. As he ran back to the huddle, he had his hands on his head. But Jimmy wasn't going to let it get to him.

"Don't worry Sohma," he said. "It's just an incomplete pass; we still have two more tries."

"Yeah, but I should have caught that!" Kyo responded. David Marley, however, wouldn't let it get to him.

"Sohma!" He said in his hybrid Jamaican/Atlanta accent. "Relax. You'll miss those catches on occasion, now focus."

"Okay," Kyo said. Since they were on the play clock, they had to listen to Jimmy again.

"On two, on two, ready…"

"_BREAK!_" The offense broke the huddle again and lined up in the same formation. Although it was the same formation, they were using a different play. Really, there's so many football plays out there, it's impossible to catalog them. Kyo lined up in the same spot.

"HUT HUT!" Jones again snapped the ball to Jimmy, who immediately scrambled out of the pocket to the right again. Instantly, he looked for Kyo, who was cutting in at a 45-degree angle into the endzone. And once again, Jimmy threw a bullet to Kyo.

Well this time, Kyo timed his catch much better and got his body in front of the ball, catching it on his chest and then pulling it in. And since he A) kept his balance and B) was one yard outside the endzone, he quickly turned around and stepped into the endzone. The referee held his hands in the air, signaling a touchdown.

"Yeah!" Jimmy pumped his fist in celebration. Kyo, meanwhile, just put the ball down and celebrated with his teammates before trotting off the field.

"Good job Sohma," O' Leary said as the players got back.

"Nice TD!" An anonymous player said.

"Not bad," Jimmy said as he patted Kyo on the back. Kyo nodded his head in response before sitting down on the bench while Jimmy went on the phone to talk with Coach Taaffe, who was in the press box.

Well now that we've gone over this part, we might was well skip to the end of the game. UCF would score 2 more times to win 42-20. The defense did its job, holding the Golden Eagles to two field goals. Now that they had won their first conference game, the Knights could focus and look forward to their first real test of the season: their September 19 match-up with The Ohio State University Buckeyes.

[][][]

On the Monday following the Southern Miss game, the players had other things to worry about—classes. Some of them, who were taking certain classes, had tests. Others didn't. Jimmy and Kyo were two that did not have tests. But they did have to deal with the length of their classes and the fact that it was a fantastic day outside.

But eventually they got out and got to enjoy the day. Jimmy was reading his history textbook, Kyo was not. Jimmy also wore a green-and-white horizontal striped soccer shirt with the label 'Carling' on it and his cowboy hat, while Kyo wore his signature outfit, his black shirt and cargo pants. Well, since it was hot out, he was wearing cargo shorts instead. "Aren't you hot in that shirt?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, no," Kyo said. "I'm feeling fine."

"Really?" Jimmy asked.

"Aren't you hot in that?" Kyo replied, pointing to Jimmy's shirt. "Who the hell is that, anyway?"

"This is the shirt for my brother's team," Jimmy said. "It's even got his name on it." He turned around and showed the back, taking off his backpack. It was mostly white save for two green stripes and one white one. The number on the back was 23 and the name 'Michaels' was arched over it.

"Your brother?" Kyo asked. "What team?"

"I told you, Glasgow Celtic," Jimmy said. "He's a soccer player."

"I thought you hated that sport," Kyo said.

"It's my brother, I'll make an exception for him," Jimmy said. "So anyway, is your girlfriend coming to the game on Saturday?"

"I hope so!" Kyo replied. "She said she watched the Southern Miss game, though."

"I know Karen did," Jimmy said. "She called me at about 2:00 in the morning scolding me for some play I fucked up."

"Which one?" Kyo asked.

"I don't know because she wasn't being specific!" Jimmy replied. "She said, 'what kind of throw was that? Ryan Leaf could throw better than you did in that play'!"

"Ryan Leaf?" Kyo asked.

"I really didn't want to explain the joke," Jimmy said. "He was a massive NFL draft bust."

"Oh," Kyo said. He pretty much got the burn.

"But anyway, the game should be good," Jimmy said. "The Orlando press started hyping the game as soon as the Southern Miss game was over."

"Yeah, I saw some posters that said 'Blackout'," Kyo said.

"Blackout!" Jimmy said with a laugh on his voice. "I can't believe we're copying a marketing ploy from the White Sox and the Georgia Bulldogs!"

"What does that mean?" Kyo asked.

"It means we're going to be wearing black on Saturday," Jimmy said. "And so will the entire stadium!"

"Wow," Kyo said. As he and Jimmy talked, a figure walked past them. It really didn't matter much until Jimmy said Kyo's last name.

"So Sohma," he said. "How are your other classes going?"

"Not bad," Kyo said.

"Were you talking to me?" Suddenly, Kyo froze. His face was blank, not unlike so many of Tohru's reactions to the Sohma antics. Jimmy, of course, was confused as to Kyo's reaction.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Sohma?" He asked.

"I'm fine," the other voice said. Naturally, Jimmy looked past Kyo to find out who the voice was coming from.

"I wasn't talking you," Jimmy said. "I was talking to Sohma here."

"I _am_a Sohma," the grey-haired person said.

"Then so is he," Jimmy said, pointing at Kyo. Kyo froze again, clearly unhappy with Jimmy pointing him out to this person. "Kyo Sohma."

"Kyo!" The person said. There was no other way around it. Kyo turned around and showed his face to the person behind him. His jaw dropped to the ground as soon as he saw the person.

"Yuki?" He shouted, pointing at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," Yuki replied. "What are you doing here in Florida?"

"Oh, so you two know each other, huh?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, we know each other," Kyo said. "He's my cousin Yuki."

"Oh, small world, huh?" Jimmy asked. He looked pretty entertained by this situation.

"Yeah, but I was hoping he wasn't going to be here," Kyo said. "This is _my_story, dammit, not his!"

"Who said this was your story, you stupid cat?" Yuki asked.

"Hey, shut up rat-boy!" Kyo shouted. It was starting to turn into one of their old fights again. "I came here to start anew, and you're here to ruin everything!"

"I'm not here to do that," Yuki retorted. "I'm just here for school."

"Well it would've been nice if ya'd told me you were coming here!" Kyo shouted. Even though his curse was gone, he was sprouting cat ears out of his head. "Then avoiding you would be easier!"

"Same for me," Yuki replied. "I wouldn't have to see your stupid face and orange hair."

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?" Kyo shouted. It really was one of their old fights. And Jimmy loved every minute of it. He was practically rolling on the ground he was laughing so hard. "What the fuck are you laughing at, Jimmy!" Kyo shouted.

"I'm sorry, ha ha ha, this is just, ha ha ha, so funny!" Jimmy was pretty much holding on to his sides at this. "You two are like a fucking cat and mouse!"

"I'm sorry," Yuki said. "But I'm not sure I've met you."

"WHAT!" Jimmy shouted, offended by Yuki's unfamiliarity with him. "Do you have any fucking idea who I am?" Yuki shook his head. "I'm Jimmy-fucking-Michaels, that's who I am! I'm the fucking quarterback, here! Oh, and I'm Sohma's roommate."

"Oh, sorry," Yuki said. "I'm afraid I don't follow… your sport."

"Football," Jimmy replied. "I'm a football player. And Sohma here is playing wide receiver for us."

"So that's what you're here for," Yuki said. "I guess I should have known about it, even though you never told me. Your fascination for that game really confused me."

"I told Shigure, Kazuma and Akito," Kyo said. "To be honest, I was going to come here whether Akito approved or not."

"You were?" Yuki asked. "You were willing to defy Akito?"

"If I had to," Kyo said. "If the curse wasn't broken on time, I would have gone here anyhow. UCF head coach George O' Leary showed up just two days after the Curse was broken, so it didn't matter."

"You're talking about that damn curse again," Jimmy said. Suddenly, Yuki got angry and grabbed Kyo by the arm and pulled him away from a very confused Jimmy.

"Did you tell him about the Curse?" He asked with intense anger on his tone and in his face.

"Yeah," Kyo said. "It's broken anyhow, it doesn't matter."

"You idiot," Yuki said. "It doesn't matter, you still shouldn't have told him!"

"He doesn't believe me though," Kyo said. "He thinks I'm lying." Yuki's face was now one of surprise instead of anger.

"Is that true?" He asked.

"Ask him," Kyo replied. Yuki turned to Jimmy again and asked,

"How would you react if I told you our family was cursed that if we were hugged by members of the opposite sex or our bodies came under a great deal of stress we turned into animals on the Chinese Zodiac?"

And without missing a beat, Jimmy simply replied, "Then I'd think you're nuts."

"Fair enough," Yuki said with a sigh. "You're forgiven," he said to Kyo.

"Whatever," Kyo said.

"By the way," Jimmy said to Yuki. "Are you going to the game on Saturday?"

"Why should I?" Yuki asked.

"Because it's going to be—"

"HEY JIMMY!" Jimmy was interrupted when someone called his name. He looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"Hey, Oakley!" He called back. "What's up?"

"Not much," Jim Oakley replied as he came up to Jimmy and the two greeted each other. Like Jimmy, he had brown hair, but his was more of fuzz than Jimmy's Dario Franchitti-esque hair. "'Sup, Sohma," he said to Kyo.

"Hey Oakley," Kyo said as he too, greeted Oakley.

"Who's this?" Oakley asked with his slight Southern Illinois accent, pointing at Yuki. His face was a little more rounded, like Ted Kennedy's and he was about an inch shorter than Jimmy.

"This is my cousin Yuki," Kyo said with a disinterested tone.

"I take it you don't like him," Oakley said with a laugh on his face. "So what were you talking about?"

"We were telling the other Sohma about why he should come to the Ohio State game," Jimmy said.

"Does he need any other reasons?" Oakley asked. "It's Ohio State!"

"Should I be impressed?" Yuki asked. Jimmy, Oakley and Kyo looked offended.

"You'd better be!" Kyo shouted.

"They're only one of the power programs of college football!" Jimmy said. "This school has been playing football since 1979. They've been playing since 1890!"

"They're the Ohio State Buckeyes, for crying out loud!" Oakley shouted. "Their stadium is over twice the size of ours!"

"They have a chant that goes like this," Jimmy said. "O-H!" He shouted.

"I-O!" Oakley finished.

"What is a buckeye, anyway?" Yuki asked. Jimmy held up his finger as if to say 'wait a moment' and then reached into his shorts pocket and pulled out a brown nut with a light tan 'face' on it.

"This," Jimmy said. "I carry that thing around with me."

"That's a buckeye?" Yuki asked. "A mere seed?"

"Technically, it's a tree," Jimmy said. 'But that's not the point. Ohio State's ranked #2 in the country!"

"If we beat them, it's a huge upset," Kyo said.

"So this is a big game?" Yuki asked. Jimmy, Oakley and Kyo groaned.

"You bet your ass!" Jimmy said. "It's huge! If we win, the whole campus will go batshit!"

"And it will prove we're a good team," Oakley said. "Hopefully, Sohma here will perform well."

"Hopefully?" Yuki asked.

"Technically, we're not sure how good he is," Oakley said.

"Most of his catches have just been catch and drop," Jimmy said. "He catches the ball and then falls to the ground. We haven't seen him turn on the jets yet."

"Why are you skeptical of him?" Yuki asked.

"Because he's only been playing for two years," Jimmy said. "Most of the team has been playing for most of our lives so we're not sure if he is good."

"I am good!" Kyo shouted. "And I can prove it!"

"Good!" Jimmy shouted. "Take that match and light a fire under your ass. You want to be good, and then you need motivation to prove yourself; like me."

"Like you?" Yuki asked.

"Yeah," Jimmy said. "I'm out there to prove I'm a good quarterback, so I have that fire under my ass. If the media doubts me, it's just more fuel to the fire."

"Really?" Kyo said. "I guess that works for me."

"I think that's the way the whole team operates," Oakley said. "We've got a chip on our shoulder."

"But I know I'm better than Terrelle Pryor," Jimmy said.

"Who's he?" Yuki asked. It was justified, since as he mentioned previously, he didn't follow football.

"The Ohio State quarterback," Jimmy replied. "If you as me, he's kind of overrated."

"Is it 'cuz he's—"

"NO." Jimmy said, cutting Oakley off. "It's not because of that, dumbass. It's just that I think he's more suited for running back or wide receiver. He doesn't have a good arm nor does he have the mental sharpness to be a good quarterback."

"And you do," Yuki said, recognizing Jimmy's big ego.

"Exactly," said Jimmy. "Really, he is overrated. The media gives him too many apologies."

"Not only that, I don't think he has many good receivers," said Kyo. "I think they've only got one good receiver."

"Meanwhile, we've got one of the best receiver corps in the country," Oakley said with a cocky smile on his face. Jimmy meanwhile, was checking his phone when his eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, shit!" He said as he showed it to Oakley and Kyo. They too mirrored Jimmy's shocked expression.

"Sorry Yuki, but we've gotta go!" Kyo said quickly.

"Why?" Yuki asked.

"Practice!" Jimmy said ass all three began to leave. He then said very fast, "Wish we could stay and chat longer but Coach O'Leary will have our heads if we're late! See ya!" The three sped off in the direction of the football stadium and Yuki was left standing there with a bewildered look on his face.

[][][]

Wednesday

Usually, it was tough for Jimmy to relax after classes. He had football practice every day and the amount of work he had to do it didn't give him much time. But here he was now, lying under a tree near the Student Union, trying to catch a few "z's". The student traffic mostly ignored him and so did he. With the Ohio State game only 3 days away, he needed the rest so that he would not fuck up the game. Also he needed to keep his mind calm.

His little nap however was interrupted when he found a shadow creep over his eyes. He opened one eye to see his girlfriend Karen standing over him. "Thought I'd find you here," she said.

"I'm trying to relax," Jimmy replied. "I gotta keep my mind clear for the game on Saturday."

"Fair enough," she said. "Mind if I join you?"

"Do what you want," he replied. She sat down next to him and lay down.

"This is nice," she said. "By the way, Tohru was talking about a guy named 'Yuki'. Do you know what she might mean?"

"Yeah, Sohma's cousin Yuki showed up on Monday," Jimmy said. "He and Kyo got into a hilarious fight."

"Really?" Karen asked. "How was it funny?"

"They were like a cat and mouse," Jimmy said laughing. "Wait till I tell Scottie!"

"Really?" Karen asked. "Why would you tell him?"

"I think he would think its funny," he said.

"He's probably busy right now," Karen said.

"By the way, Tohru seems kind of nice," Jimmy said. "Any chance you could be more like her?"

"_NO._" She said firmly. Jimmy pouted, but Karen held fast. "Not gonna happen, Jimmy."

"Oh," Jimmy said, snapping her fingers. Karen shook her head and chuckled slightly. She took a big breath and tried to relax next to Jimmy. He glanced over to her for a second before trying to go back to sleep again. It was then that she rolled over and wrapped her arm around his chest underneath his neck. Again he glanced at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Being with you," she replied. Jimmy shrugged. He was good with that. He took a big breath and closed his eyes again, trying to relax. Being the guy he is, he was in no hurry to get Karen off of him and just let her relax with him. He could hear her breathe—she wasn't far from his ears anyway—and it had a soothing effect on him as well. Next thing he felt was some soft pressure on his cheek. He opened his left eye to see his girlfriend smiling at him and then settling down with her head on his shoulder. "I love you," she said.

"I know," he replied. He felt Karen let out a small laugh. She knew what he meant. He just felt like replying in a Han Solo-esque manner. And yes, she still loved him for that.

[][][]

Later that day…

"So Tohru, how are things going?" Karen asked as she re-entered her and Tohru's apartment. Tohru was sitting at the table with her hands on her head. Apparently she was frustrated about something.

"I'm kind of having a hard time with this," she said. "I need help with this American government class I'm taking. Your way of doing this is really confusing."

"Well then, I'll help you," Karen replied. "What problems are you having trouble with?"

"I'm having trouble with how these different 'branches' work," Tohru said. "Can you help me?"

"Sure," Karen replied. "The legislative branch, or Congress, creates new laws. They are usually introduced, then sent to a committee where they're voted on." Tohru struggled to write this down. "Then, after committee votes on them, it passes to the floor where the congressmen vote on them. A bill has to pass with a 2/3 majority in each house before it passes to the next. One house is called the House of Representatives, while the other is called the Senate. Did you get that?"

"I think so," Tohru said, looking kind of confused. "Is that really how it goes?"

"Well, in real life, it's much more heated," Karen replied. "Congress can't get shit passed these days."

"I wasn't asking for your opinion, Tohru replied. "I just need to know how these things work."

"My bad," Karen replied.

"What's the Executive Branch?" Tohru asked, looking at her notes.

"Were you even paying attention?" Karen asked. "Anyway, the Executive Branch is the branch of the President. It's the President's main job to sign the laws that Congress passes or he can veto the bill."

"What does veto mean?" Tohru asked.

"It means that he can reject the bill," Karen replied. "Of course, Congress can still pass the bill with a 2/3 majority in each house. Because of his profile, the president has become the image of the government. Of course, if things go wrong, everyone directs their dissatisfaction at _him_."

"Is that what's going on with these 'tea party' thingies?" Tohru asked.

"That's… a different kind of dissatisfaction," Karen replied. "They're more… conservative and… crazy." She whispered the last part, enough that Tohru did not hear what she said.

"What?" Tohru asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Karen replied. "Now the Judicial Branch is headed by the Supreme Court. If someone has a complaint about a law, they can take it to court. The Judicial Branch can decide whether a law is constitutional or unconstitutional."

"What does that mean?" Tohru asked.

"It means that they can decide whether the law is legal," Karen replied. "Is that all you wanted to know?"

"Yeah," Tohru replied.

"So, have you got your tickets for the game on Saturday?" Karen asked.

"Um… no," Tohru replied.

"Well then, you should!" Karen said, startling Tohru. "The tickets are going fast; you have to get your student ticket!" She went got Tohru's laptop and brought up the UCF athletics website. Ignoring the stories regarding the big game coming up, Karen clicked on the ticket bar and the ticket page was brought up. She then clicked on the football ticket information link and clicked on 'student ticket'. Ignoring the single ticket information, she went down to the season ticket information and clicked to sign up for season tickets.

"Am I able to get tickets?" Tohru asked. "I mean, the semester's already under way."

"I don't think you should worry," Karen replied. "If not, we can always get you a single game ticket."

"Oh, that's nice," Tohru said.

[][][]

In order to see how an opponent plays, you must watch them. This is what the UCF football team was doing right now. The guys were in the film room of the Wayne Densch Sports Center. Kyo took careful notes as he watched the Ohio State defense. He could see how they applied pressure to the offense. On occasion, O' Leary would stop the film and make some comments on how to get past them. When the film was played again, Kyo started taking notes again.

At one point, he glanced to his right to see Jimmy fixated on the film. As he looked, he could practically see Jimmy analyzing and tearing the defense apart in his head. Of course, Kyo had to go back and watch the film. He couldn't get distracted about anything. He watched the Ohio State linebackers blitz and swarm USC's Matt Barkley, forcing the freshman quarterback to throw the ball away. It was pretty much how a defense was supposed to work; the defensive line held the o-line, creating a hole for the linebackers to come in and attack the quarterback.

Jimmy meanwhile watched this particular play and instantly figured out how to beat this defense. The linebackers applied pressure to the offensive line, looking for an opening attack the quarterback. The Ohio State defense punished its opponents. They would not let up until the ball carrier was down. So Jimmy had to formulate an idea on how to get past this defense.

[][][]

_Thursday_

Kyo got back from class, exhausted from the walk back to his apartment. The Florida heat and humidity had gotten to him and he went over to the small fridge and grabbed a Gatorade and chugged it down. Jimmy was not back. Either he was A) not back from class; B) hanging out with other football players or C) spending time with Karen. Kyo went into his room and sat down on his desk chair before opening his laptop up and logging in. He was trying not to think too much about the game this Saturday or Yuki, but the fact that his cousin was coming felt… strange. He almost felt like bragging to Yuki. Of course, Yuki would just tell him to shut up.

With a small paper he had to do, immediately went to work on it. The paper was only one page long, so he felt it wouldn't take too long to do. Besides, he had practice again today so he had to get it out of the way. He began working on the paper, typing away as fast as he could at the keyboard. He could swear that he was typing so loud that someone could hear him typing outside of his room. But he didn't care about that right now. He had to get this thing _done._

That's when he heard, much to his chagrin, a cell phone ringing. But then he was surprised to hear that it was not a ring tone he had. Instead it sounded like one of Jimmy's ringtones. Now just what was that—oh, great. He looked at the table and realized that Jimmy had left his cell phone behind. Well, he might as well be polite and answer Jimmy's phone to tell whoever was calling him that Jimmy was unavailable. He picked the phone up and checked the caller ID; it said 'SCOTT' on it. Kyo pushed the talk button and held the phone up to his ear. "Hello?" He asked.

"_Hello_," the voice on the other end said. "_Is Jimmy there?_"

"No," Kyo replied. "He hasn't gotten back yet."

"_Oh damn,_" the voice on the other end replied. He sounded like an older version of Jimmy for some reason. "_So who's this?_"

"This is Kyo Sohma, his roommate," Kyo replied.

"_Oh, I've heard of you!_" The voice said. "_So you're Jimmy's roommate? He's told me about you._"

"Well that's nice, but who's this?" Kyo asked. "Otherwise, I'm going to hang up the phone."

"_Oh, sorry,_" the voice said. "_I'm Scott; I'm Jimmy's older brother_."

"Oh, you're Scott?" Kyo said. "I've heard about you."

"_Let me guess, he says he hates soccer but he'll watch me,_" Scott said.

"Yeah," Kyo replied. He heard Scott burst into laughter on the other side.

"_HAHAHA! That's Jimmy for you!_" Scott said.

"Where are you calling from, anyway?" Kyo asked, completely forgetting Jimmy's descriptions of Scott.

"_Glasgow!_" Scott replied. His voice didn't sound angry. "_Didn't he tell you where I am?_"

"I forgot_,_" Kyo replied.

"_That's okay_," Scott replied. "_Well I was mainly calling him to tell him about Celtic's recent Champions League win over APOEL this Tuesday._"

"Oh," Kyo said. "I'll tell him when he gets—oh, wait." The door to Kyo and Jimmy's room had opened and Kyo looked to see Jimmy come in the apartment.

"Hey Sohma, who are you talking—is that my phone?" Jimmy was more shocked that he left his phone behind rather than the fact that Kyo was talking on it.

"Your brother's on the other end," Kyo said as he handed it to Jimmy.

"He is?" Jimmy asked as he took the phone. "Hey, Scottie!" He said with a big smile on his face. To say he was excited to talk to his older brother would be an understatement. "Yeah, he's the guy I told you about last Christmas… Oh, you won? That's great! By the way, are you going to watch my game this Saturday? … Great! APOEL? Where the fuck are they… Oh, Cyprus?"

As Jimmy talked with Scott, Kyo went back to his laptop to work on his paper. He finished the paper and began printing it and looked to see…

"Yuki!" He said. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Your roommate brought me here, idiot," Yuki replied. Kyo glared at his cousin. But Yuki seemed more concerned with looking at Jimmy talk on the phone. "Who's he talking to?" He asked.

"His older brother," Kyo replied. "They seem to have a good relationship."

"Looks that way," Yuki said. Kyo was unsure, but he could see some envy on Yuki's face regarding Jimmy's relationship with Scott. Kyo went back to his room to watch some more video on the Ohio State defense. For an athlete, preparation never stops. Soon, Jimmy turned off the phone and walked over to the table. "You have a good relationship with your brother," Yuki said.

"Yep," Jimmy replied. "Why, did you?"

"No," Yuki replied. "I almost envy you."

"I have a feeling you don't like your brother," Jimmy replied. "By the way, did you get your ticket for the game on Saturday?"

"Will you stop bugging me if I told you I did?" Yuki asked.

"Did you?" Jimmy replied.

"Yes," Yuki replied. "I registered for a single game ticket."

"You should have gotten a season ticket," Jimmy replied. "It's much more certain."

"I didn't feel like it," Yuki replied. "I'm not too interested in your sport."

"That sucks," Kyo said, still looking at video. Jimmy wheeled his chair over to see the video that Kyo was watching.

"Nothing's wrong with studying, right?" Jimmy asked.

"Nope," Kyo replied. Then he paused the video and came out of the room to talk to Jimmy. "By the way, you mentioned you already told Scott about me."

"Yeah, I mentioned that O' Leary was recruiting you when I talked to him last Christmas," Jimmy replied. "And yes, I can remember that far back."

"Dang, O' Leary was that interested in me?" Kyo asked.

"Apparently," Jimmy replied. He turned to Yuki. "Come on, take a seat, you're not in any hurry, are you?"

"No," Yuki replied as he sat down on Jimmy's bed. "So what was your brother calling you about?"

"Ah, his team beat some team from Cyprus in the Champions League," Jimmy replied. 'I think that team's name is APOEL or something."

"Who does he play for?" Yuki asked.

"Glasgow Celtic," Jimmy replied. "It's a soccer team."

"Have you actually seen him?" Kyo asked.

"Yeah, I went to Glasgow for Spring Break last year," Jimmy replied. "Of course, I had to leave as on Saturday so I could only see his Champions League game. Anyway, I don't really care much for soccer."

"Hey Jimmy, have you seen our jerseys for Saturday yet?" Kyo asked.

"I think we'll see 'em tomorrow," Jimmy replied. "Marley said they might look like some of the black jerseys the team used to wear, meaning they'll be black with gold shoulder stripes. By the way, Y. Sohma, do you have anything black to wear?"

"Why?" Yuki asked.

"It's the Blackout, remember?" Jimmy said. "The whole stadium's wearing black."

"That's nice," Yuki said, barely interested. "Have you seen Ms. Honda lately?" He asked Kyo.

"I think she's got class until 2:30," Kyo replied. "Jimmy and I are going to see them after practice."

"Them?" Yuki asked.

"Tohru and Jimmy's girlfriend are roommates," Kyo replied. "We visit them and they visit us. And sometimes we run into Jimmy's old roommate." Jimmy threw his head back and groaned.

"Can you please _not_mention him?" Jimmy asked. Kyo started laughing while Yuki looked on confused.

"You should have seen this guy," Kyo said. "I think Jimmy hates him or something like that. He just tackled Jimmy this one time we saw him. Well, I think it's a he."

"What are you getting at?" Yuki asked.

"He looked like a girl!" Kyo said. Yuki raised his eyebrows while Jimmy took his baseball cap off to hit Kyo with it. Kyo, of course, was still laughing.

"Shut the fuck up!" Jimmy shouted, still hitting Kyo with his cap. Yuki of course, started snickering, earning a glare from Jimmy. If only he had some dirt on Kyo to get him to shut up.

"It's too funny!" Kyo said.

"If only that happened to you," Yuki said. That earned a characteristic glare from Kyo.

"What'd you say, rat-boy?" He asked in a very confrontational voice. "You want me to break your nose!" That's when Jimmy threw his head back and laughed; not only at Kyo, but he remembered something.

"Oh, that reminds me," Jimmy said. "Our first day of classes, after practice, Sohma was shirtless and Tohru walked in and as soon as she saw him… ssspppssshhh, blood just comes spurting of her nose! She was okay, but it's funny anyway!"

"I'm not sure if that's very funny," Yuki said. "But I'm glad you said she was okay."

"He was embarrassed by it, that's why I told it," Jimmy said, pointing to a visibly embarrassed Kyo. "Yeah, now you're not gonna talk about that, are ya?"

"No," Kyo replied.

"Although in all fairness, at least Tohru thinks Sohma's sexy," Jimmy said. "I personally don't think so, but as long as his girlfriend does, that's fine."

"Do I have to remind you about what your mom writes?" Kyo asked. Instantly, Jimmy covered his mouth with his right hand and blushed like a madman, holding himself at the same time. His facial expression was one of pure embarrassment; not an angry embarrassment, but a funny one. Kyo laughed at Jimmy's complete embarrassment, while Yuki was very confused.

"I think it's time you two stopped sharing each other's dirt," Yuki said, sighing in exasperation.

"Oh, alright," Kyo said.

"Did you have to remind me?" Jimmy asked. "Besides, your cousin writes the same shit!"

"Well I don't get too worked up about it anymore," Kyo replied. Jimmy was glaring daggers at him. Yuki rolled his eyes in annoyance.

[][][]

Karen and Tohru came back from class at about 3:00 Tohru was tired and she laid down on her bed while Karen sat down at her desk and started working on something. She typed away, distracting Tohru from her little nap. Being the kind of person she is, instead of snapping at Karen, she got up off her bed and went to Karen's room. "Excuse me Karen," she said. "Can you please not type so loud?"

"Oh, sorry Tohru," she replied. She started typing more quietly, allowing Tohru to sit down on Karen's bed. "By the way, I got a Facebook request from a girl named Uo…tani or something like that, I'm not sure." Tohru, who was at first tired, perked up instantly and sat up in bed, surprising Karen.

"Uo!" She said excitedly. "You got a request from Uo?"

"You know her?" Karen asked.

"Of course I do!" Tohru replied. "She's one of my best friends!"

"Oh, in that case, I'll accept it!" Karen said as she went back on Facebook to accept Uo's friend request. "A friend of Tohru's is a friend of me!" She said.

"I wonder if Saki's on there," Tohru said.

"Who's Saki?"

"My other friend," Tohru replied. "Saki Hanajima."

"Oh okay," Karen said as she put Hana's name in the search engine. "By the way, what were Uo and Hana anyway?" Karen asked, tempting fate.

"A delinquent and a goth psychic," Tohru replied, not breaking her smile. Karen froze in mid-type, her face showing shock.

"A delinquent and a goth psychic?" Karen asked, trying to make sure she heard that right.

"Yep," Tohru replied, still smiling. Karen was still trying to process those words in her mind. She could only come out with a few words.

"That… sounds… nice," she said, slowly.

"But don't worry," Tohru said. "They won't try to hurt you." Karen let out a sigh of relief and finished typing in Saki's namem, "Unless you try to hurt me." Karen practically fainted.

Well after recovering, Karen requested Saki as a friend before returning to whatever she was working on before. Tohru meanwhile, polished the ceramic eggs of the Chinese zodiac she had next to her bed. They were getting kind of dusty so she might as well. Karen eventually finished typing and went to check her e-mail. "How are you mom?" She heard Tohru asked. Karen was naturally curious and listened to Tohru. "I'm doing well, I got an A on a recent assignment, so I'm off to a good start. I miss you and everyone." Karen looked in Tohru's room to see Tohru talking to the picture of her mother that she carried with her. She could not help but smile.

"Is that photo important to you?" She asked.

"Very," Tohru replied. "My mom died after I entered high school, leaving me as an orphan." Karen's face softened in sadness at Tohru's words.

"Oh, that's too bad," she said. "What about your dad?"

"He died of a fever when I was little," Tohru replied. Karen slapped her hand to her head, worried that she had upset her even more. "Please don't be upset! I don't want you to worry about me!"

"You're a strong girl," Karen said. "I'm not sure what I could do without my parents."

"But Hana and Uo are my only other friends other than the ones in the Sohma clan," Tohru said. "We said we'd be through everything, but now that I'm far from—what are you doing?" Karen had suddenly got up and hugged Tohru, much to the other girl's surprise.

"You need a hug," Karen replied. Tohru smiled and hugged back. Karen's message was simple but powerful: although Hana and Uo are far away, and she did have Kyo, she has a friend right here in Karen. And that wasn't so bad.

[][][]

_[Mood whiplash time!]_

"So anyway, we get Taylor in pads and we drag him out onto the field," Jimmy said as he held a Gatorade in his right hand. He was in his apartment after practice, talking with Kyo, Yuki and Charles Jones. Jones was laughing already, since he knew what was coming next. "He's whining and moaning, wondering why he agreed to it, and I told him to stop being such a wuss. He's standing out in the field and I rejoin the team. He asks what happens next when BOOM!" He punched his own hand to symbolize what happened. Yuki recoiled slightly while Kyo and Jones listened. "He gets flattened. We all start laughing, and he's on the field, moaning and wailing and all that shit.

"So I walked over to him and asked if he was okay. And he said in a battered voice, 'what kind of brute was that?'" Jones started snickering. He knew what was coming up. "And you know what my response was?"

"What was it?" Yuki asked.

"I said, 'That was our kicker!'" Jones burst into laughter and Kyo stifled his laughter before breaking out again. "And he was like—," Jimmy widened his eyes, mimicking Taylor's embarrassed reaction. Yuki didn't seem as entertained by Jimmy's story, though and he raised his objections.

"But wouldn't that be cruel?" Yuki asked.

"Hey, he agreed to it," Jimmy replied after taking a sip of Gatorade. "So it's funny. It's not funny if he really got hurt, but the kicker didn't hit him that hard!"

"Really, I don't get it!" Yuki said. "That seems homophobic."

"I was trying to help him toughen up after he was beat up by homophobes," Jimmy replied. "And besides, I didn't coerce him or anything, I just asked nicely. He agreed to come to practice and to put some pads on."

"He did," Jones said. "He didn't force him or anything, I was there."

"Thank you Charles," Jimmy replied. "So anyway, I got funnier stories, not involving Taylor getting hit."

"Like what?" Yuki asked.

"Like the time I pretended to be some teabagger," Jimmy replied, talking about the American Tea Party movement. "I went to this one rally, where I had a satirical sign that said, 'KILL ALL POOR PEOPLE'. You know what happened? They applauded me!"

"Really?" Yuki asked. "They actually applauded you?"

"I know, they're dumbasses," Jimmy replied. "Worst excuse for a movement ever! There are stupid people in this world, but it takes a special kind of stupid to be a teabagger."

"I'm not sure how that's funny," Yuki replied.

"Whatever pretty-boy," Jimmy said. "You know I did hear Taylor talking about you; he said you were girlier than him!"

"What did you say?" Yuki shouted, standing up. Kyo naturally, was holding onto his sides, and Charles was laughing hard as well. Yuki face palmed, completely embarrassed by Jimmy.

"He is," Kyo said, sniggering. "You should see him in a dress; he does look like a girl!" Jimmy, Kyo and Charles continued laughing at Yuki, who continued face palming at the rest of them.

"Macho idiots," he said.

[][][]

_Friday_

Jimmy held up his new black jersey. The box containing the jerseys had arrived and the Athletic department was going to have the players wear them to advertise the game. The jersey was identical to the regular home jersey, but only in terms of design; it still had the shoulder stripes and the block numbers, but they were gold instead of white. The rest of the jersey of course, was black. But Jimmy really loved what was on the back of the jersey. "Check it out," he said to Byron Johnson. "We get names on our jerseys!"

"Nice," said Oakley. "I'm fuckin' excited man, my heart's pounding!"

"Mine too," Jimmy replied. "It doesn't seem as exciting as the UCLA game last year, this is different!"

"I know," said Jones.

"I just hope I can do well tomorrow," Kyo said.

"Don't worry Sohma," Jimmy replied. He put his jersey on and looked at himself in the mirror. "Yeah, I look _good_in black!" He said. "_BACK IN BLACK!"_He couldn't help resisting the urge to imitate AC/DC singer Brian Johnson. "Man, the Bucknuts are gonna be sorry they messed with the _black!_"

[][][]

Kyo had to wonder just why he agreed to wear his black jersey in the hot sun. But from the reactions of the students, it seemed like it was a popular jersey. Severl people had called out to him, saying "GO KNIGHTS!" and things like that. Kyo just waved back weakly. Then he regrouped with Jimmy, and that changed big time.

When Jimmy joined up with him, he said he'd show Kyo how it was done. When several people called out to him, Jimmy pumped his fist in the air, saying things like "Fuck yeah!" or "You bet your ass we're gonna win!" Kyo had to wonder how someone could be like that. Jimmy of course, replied like this: "It's a family joke that we're descended from the Irish hero Cu Chullain," Jimmy replied. "The dude was nuts, for cryin' out loud he went into this battle rage and no one could go anywhere near him after that. Of course, he's from the north of Ireland, and we're from the south, County Cork to be exact, but oh well."

"Jeez," Kyo replied.

"But I guarantee you man, we're going to dominate tomorrow," Jimmy said. "I guaran-fucking-tee it.

[][][]

End chapter

So up next is the big game, UCF vs. Ohio State! I guarantee, it's gonna be big!

As for Jimmy's story about his old roommate, don't get too worked up. Taylor agreed to put on the pads and he agreed to get hit. He just thought it wouldn't be so bad. As for Jimmy's crack about the tea party, it's his opinion, so get the fuck over it. Besides, Jimmy's highly opinionated, so he's going to be making some cracks on occasion.


	6. Gameday

September 19, 2009

Awoken by the alarm clock, Kyo woke up at around 7:00 AM. At first, he was cursing the clock because he couldn't sleep in, but then he remembered just what was going on today: UCF's major football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes, who were ranked, 2nd in the country. The thought of that instantly made thousands of butterflies flutter in his gut. Of course, a look at his roommate Jimmy Michaels, the quarterback, showed something else. Instead of nervousness, Jimmy was getting dressed with an almost emotionless face. But Kyo did not know that deep down, Jimmy was preparing in his own way. Although the game was at 6:00, it was not too early to get ready.

As the morning went on, Kyo's nervousness began to grow while Jimmy stayed (relatively) calm. Kyo felt himself sweating with anticipation of the game and had to take a shower even though he took one last night and was probably going to do it again. Eventually, Kyo's nervousness got to his mouth and he said something that he really didn't intend to talk about. "I didn't really have a good family life," he said out of the blue. Jimmy glanced over at him as if he was wondering just what Kyo was talking about.

"You're talking about that _now_?" Jimmy asked, looking over his playbook. "And where the hell did this come from?"

"My family hated me," Kyo said. "I was an outcast in my own family and the only one who was kind to me was my martial arts teacher and Tohru."

"Really?" Jimmy asked. "What else?"

"My dad was an abusive asshole, my mom probably secretly hated me, my cousin and I would fight a lot (as you can see), the family patriarch was a complete bitch and just about anything else that you can think of," Kyo said.

"Okay, so it was bad," Jimmy said. Kyo's attempts at being sad were not working on him. "Now RELAX!" Kyo jumped at Jimmy's words. But then Jimmy got another idea and put on some relaxing piano music. Kyo let out a deep sigh as the music began to calm him down. The beautiful piano music filled his ears and he listened intently.

"Who is this?" Kyo asked.

"_Raindrop _by Chopin," Jimmy replied. Kyo's eyebrows raised as Jimmy said this.

"Chopin?" He asked. "I thought you liked heavy metal."

"I do but I have to like the classics," Jimmy replied. "I listen to metal to get pumped before the games and classical piano to calm me down."

"What else you got?" Kyo asked.

"_Ashitaka and San _from the _Princess Mononoke _soundtrack for one," Jimmy said. Jimmy eventually changed the piece when the music got dramatic, and Kyo felt the relaxing effects of the piece.

"I love Miyazaki," Kyo said.

"He had some good stuff," Jimmy replied. The morning continued with the two listening to calm piano pieces.

[][][]

Eventually, it was time to leave for the game. It was in the afternoon and since preparation for the game would take a while, they had to leave to give them some time. The two dressed nice and left, walking to the fieldhouse. From there, they would prepare for the game. Well now, we will stop focusing on them and start focusing on Karen, Tohru and Yuki.

In their apartment, Karen and Tohru woke up later, probably around 11:00 (it's a standard college student wake-up time). Their time was a little more relaxed, simply them watching TV. Tohru mostly worked on her computer for a while.

"So who's coming to the game?" Tohru asked.

"Well my parents called and they'll show up," Karen replied. "But they live in the Orlando area and have season tickets so it's no big deal. What about that Yuki guy you've talked about?"

"Um, Kyo told me he was here, but I haven't seen him lately," Tohru replied.

"Oh well," Karen replied. "So how psyched are you for your first American football game in America?"

"Isn't that redundant?" Tohru replied, lampshading Karen's question.

"Actually, I meant American football the sport," Karen replied. Fair enough.

"I'm not sure," Tohru replied. "I did go to Kyo's games in Japan, but those weren't really this big."

"Football here is _very _different," Karen said. "I think in the Southeast it's pretty much as big as soccer in Europe."

"Is that true?" Tohru asked.

"It's about as close an analogy as I can think of," said Karen.

Most of the morning, which soon turned into the afternoon, things went somewhat uneventful until the time Jimmy and Kyo were to leave for the Densch Sports Center. It happened when they heard a knock on their door. "Come in!" Karen said.

"Hey, how's it goin'!" Jimmy said as he poked his head in. He was dressed nicely and soon walked in, as did Kyo. Karen walked up to Jimmy and gave him a big hug and kissed him on the cheek.

"For luck," she said.

"For you too Kyo," Tohru said as she hugged and kissed Kyo. He too appreciated the sentiment.

"Thanks Tohru," he said.

"I hope you guys can win," Tohru said.

"We don't need luck," Jimmy replied. "We can beat them on our own."

"I hope your ego doesn't get to you," Karen replied, earning a disdained look from Jimmy.

Suddenly, Jimmy heard his cell phone ring and took it out of his athletic bag, looking at the screen before answering the phone. "Hey Scottie," he said. "What? Oh, speaker? Okay, hold on." Jimmy took the phone from his ear and pressed a button on the phone before holding it out to the quartet in the dorm room. "Okay Scottie, you're on speaker now," Jimmy said.

"_Hey guys_," Scott's voice said. "_How's it going?_"

"Not bad," said Karen.

"Um, hello," Tohru said. "I'm Tohru, I'm Karen's roommate."

"_Oh, hello_," Scott said. "_It's a pleasure to meet you._"

"Oh no, the pleasure's all mine!" Tohru said, bowing even though she couldn't see him.

"_Relax!" _Scott said. "_Anyway, I know you guys have stuff to do, so I'll make this quick. I wish the both of you, Jimmy and Kyo, best of luck against Ohio State. I hope you can make them your bitches like the Gators did to them!"_

"Thanks, bro!" Jimmy said, laughing.

"Thanks Scott," Kyo replied.

"_Oh, by the way Karen," _Scott said again. "_Maggie's in Orlando scouting for Celtic and she's going to be at the game._"

"Oh, really?" Karen asked. "Well I'll try to find her. Thanks a lot!"

"_No problem," _Scott replied. "_Anyway, I gotta go, see ya!"_

"See ya!" Jimmy replied as he hung up his cell phone. "Alright, Sohma and I have to get out of here—oh, by the way, Sohma's cousin got a ticket so he's probably going to show up. Anyway, see ya!"

"Bye!" Karen said as she waved good-bye to the two.

"I'll try to find Yuki," Tohru replied. Kyo groaned in response before leaving the room. Karen looked at Tohru to laugh while shaking her head.

[][][]

Sometime later, after putting on some sunscreen—they don't want to get sunburn—and clad in black, 'Blackout' t-shirts, Karen and Tohru left for the Memory Mall, which is where most of the tailgating was. It was warm, humid and there was not a cloud in the sky; the perfect day for a football game. They also brought along some bottled water in case they needed it. Because of the humidity it would be wise to bring some.

They got to Memory Mall, which makes up most of the north-northwest portion of the UCF circle. The mall was filled with tents where people were tailgating, and Karen's parents were no doubt among them.

Tohru was hit by the smell of many grills and the sound of music being played. This was obviously the first time she had been to a tailgate like this, and it was a pretty overwhelming experience for the girl. Karen looked as though she had done this before and instead was looking for her parents. The mall was awash in black some gold, mostly as trimming. A few 'UCF BLACKOUT' shirts were seen and were most likely students. Separated from these fans were ones clad in scarlet and gray/silver; the colors of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

"O-H!" One called out.

"_I-O!" _The rest responded. This call-and-response cheer, arguably the most famous by the Buckeye fans, could be heard all over the mall.

"My, there's a lot of them isn't there?" Tohru asked her voice slightly shaky.

"Yeah," said Karen, her voice more disinterested than shaky. "But I'm not too worried about them."

"So where are your parents?" Tohru asked again.

"They're supposed to have a tent around here somewhere," she replied. She looked around the mall, trying to find just which one was her parents' tent.

Apparently, they forgot to tell her which tent they had gotten.

"Um, do you know where they are?" Tohru asked. Karen suddenly stopped where she was before turning around. She was smiling much like Tohru had done when she had forgotten something. And then the dam burst.

"No, I don't!" She wailed, comical tears pouring out of her eyes. "They didn't tell me where they were gonna be, they always tell me and since they're not in their regular spot, I have no idea what to do because I'm hungry and I want some hot dogs!" Tohru watched this scene wondering if she was her long-lost twin or something like that.

"Um, can you please calm down Karen, you're making a scene," said Tohru. When did she become the mature one?

"But I want my mommy!" She wailed again. Really, she's in college, what the hell is going on here? Her worries had some merit. Several people were gawking at Karen and were making Tohru uncomfortable.

"Why don't you just call them?" Tohru asked. It must have worked, because Karen stopped and slapped her forehead.

"Why didn't I think of that?" She asked as she dialed her parents on her cell phone. "Hello? Um, you didn't tell me where you were… okay! I'll be there soon! See you!" She hung up and turned to Tohru. "Okay, no need to panic," she said. Tohru thought that should have come earlier.

With their directions, Karen and Tohru only took a minute to find their query, Karen's parents. Eventually they found them; their tent was close to the UCF Arena. "Mom! Dad!" Karen called out as she ran towards them. Indeed, her parents noticed her and waved back. She greeted the both of them with a big hug that almost looked like she hadn't seen them in years—either that or she was just really glad to see them. Tohru was a little uneasy when she approached them, but the friendly smiles on their faces told her they wouldn't be so bad. "Mom, dad," Karen said. "This is my roommate Tohru Honda."

"It's nice to meet you Tohru," said Karen's mother, a woman who looked to be in her late 40s or early 50s with brown hair like her daughter's. "You know, actually it's interesting, because your last name is Honda and we own a Honda!"

"Really?" Tohru asked. "I didn't really think much about that."

"Well, we don't really meet many people named 'Honda'," said Mrs. McKenzie.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you to my dad," Karen said, gesturing to her father. He was also in his late '40s, early '50s, and had a graying beard. Neither he nor his wife looked bad; they must have taken good care of themselves. He was working on the grill, cooking some hot dogs and burgers.

Man, they smelled good.

"When can we have those?" Tohru asked, tempted by the food.

"When they're done," Karen's mother, named Janet replied. "George will tell you when it's done."

"Ooohhh," Tohru groaned.

"It's okay," said Karen.

"Oh, by the way, Tohru," said Janet. "I have someone for you to meet." That's when she gestured to a woman who was talking to George. "Maggie!" She called. The woman turned around to look at Janet. She was about 4 years older than Tohru and a smidge taller than Karen. She had shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes, and she looked pretty good.

She was, as the Scots would say, a 'Bonny Lass'.

"Tohru, this is Maggie Gordon," said Karen. "She's Jimmy's brother's friend."

"Hello," Tohru said, bowing.

"Nice tae meet ye," Maggie replied. Tohru had no idea what she said. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry if ye didn't understand me."

"No, not at all!" Tohru replied in her usual way. "I didn't mean to misunderstand you, I-I-I-I mean, I—"

"Tohru, chillax!" Karen said, grabbing her. "It's okay; I didn't understand her at first. It takes a while to get used to that Scottish accent."

"You mean—" Tohru said.

"Aye, Ah'm from Glasgow," said Maggie. "Ah'm a Bonny Scottish Lass!"

"Oh, that's nice," said Tohru. "So what are you doing—I-I-I-I mean, what's—no, that's not what I meant!" Maggie had a confused look on her face while Karen tried to calm Tohru down.

"I'm sorry," she said. "She's really polite, but that's not a bad thing. I think what she's trying to ask is why you're here."

"Och, tha's nae too bad," Maggie replied. "The club sent me here tae scout some players in the area. Because of Scott, the club is interested in mere American players."

"Club?" Tohru asked, genuinely confused.

"Celtic," Maggie replied. "Ah'm a scout fer Glasgow Celtic F.C."

"Oh," said Tohru.

"And since I was in the area, Scott asked me tae come tae Jimmy's game tonight," she said. "I might as well, besides, it'd be a good way tae tak in my first American football game!"

"That's nice," said Tohru.

"Sae, Karen," Maggie said as she turned to her. "How have things been goin' fer ya?"

"Not bad," she replied. "I've been doing well in my classes and my job has been going well. What about you?"

"Nae bad," Maggie replied. "Ye already know why I'm here, of course."

"You two know each other?" Tohru asked.

"Yeah," Karen replied. "Jimmy and I went to Glasgow for Spring Break [should have gone to Key West] and we met Scott and Maggie there, as well as his teammate Tai Kamiya and Sora Takenouchi [1]."

"They even got tae see a Champions League match," said Maggie. "It was against AC Milan. Scott didn't score, but Tai did."

"Can we not talk about those two right now?" Karen asked.

"Oh, sorry," said Maggie. "Tohru, what are ye studyin'?"

"Um, I'm not sure right now," she said. "I haven't decided on my major."

"That stinks," said Karen. "You're going to have to choose one soon."

"Oh no!" Tohru shouted, getting a surprised reaction from the others. "I didn't know that I had to do that so soon! I still haven't figured it out and—"

"Tohru, relax!" Karen said, grabbing her shoulders. "Don't worry about that right now, it's okay."

"Oh, sorry," Tohru said. "I guess I got a little too worked up."

"I'll say," said Maggie. "Is she always like this?"

"Sometimes," Karen replied. "I'm not sure why she gets so neurotic, but at least she tries to be polite."

"Food's ready!" Mr. McKenzie called out, interrupting the ladies' conversation. Instantly, Karen rushed over to the grill and grabbed a patty from the grill, and putting it on a bun and some cheese on it. Mrs. McKenzie handed Tohru a hot dog and Mr. McKenzie gave Maggie a burger as well.

"So where are ye sittin'?" Maggie asked, just out of curiosity.

"Student section," Karen replied. "It takes up the entire south side of the stadium."

"Tha's big," Maggie said, not used to sections that big. "What are ye goin nae be doin'?"

"We're going to be cheering, chanting, standing, all that," said Karen.

"Sounds like a football match back home," Maggie said.

"I'm not sure about that," said Maggie. "Because we don't sing unless it's the fight song and—Tohru, are you looking for someone?" Tohru was a few miles away, looking around for someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, snapping back to her senses. "I was just distracted."

"Anyway, we're going to be sitting in the front row," said Karen. "We're going to get to the gate early so we can get the best seats."

"Is that—Hey, Yuki!" Tohru called out suddenly. Her sudden spurt got Karen and Maggie's attention and they looked over to see who Tohru was talking to. A gray-haired young man about Tohru's age was looking around confused until Tohru noticed him and he came over to the tent.

"Miss Honda?" Yuki asked. "What are you doing here?"

"It's good to see you again Yuki," Tohru said. "I didn't know you were here at UCF. What are you doing?"

"Well, Kyo and Jimmy convinced me to go the game," he said.

"Oh, you mean you saw Kyo?" Tohru asked.

"And you saw Jimmy?" Karen asked.

"Yes," Yuki said. "But I haven't met you," he said, pointing to Karen.

"I'm Karen, I'm Tohru's roommate," Karen said, shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Yuki said.

"Ah'm Maggie," said Maggie, obviously. "I'm a friend of Jimmy's brother."

"Oh, okay," Yuki said. "So you're going to the game, Miss Honda?"

"Of course!" Tohru replied. "I want to see Kyo play."

"I guess I want to see him play too," said Yuki. "But I'm not really crazy about it. I hate crowds."

"Well then, man up pretty boy!" Karen said, slapping his back, like Jimmy. "We're going to be sitting in the front row!"

"Oh great, another Jimmy," said Yuki.

"So how do you know Tohru and Kyo, anyhow?" Karen asked.

"Kyo's my cousin," said Yuki. "We… haven't gotten along that much, though."

"Whatever, you're going to be cheering him on tonight, no matter what!" Karen said. Yuki was confused as to what she was saying.

[][][]

Waiting in line for the game isn't so bad usually, but when you have to wait for 30 minutes for the gates to open, it's a little dull. Yuki himself wasn't too comfortable among the throng of students who were anxious to get in but Karen and Tohru were doing their best to keep him comfortable. The Knights had already entered the stadium and warm-ups were just about to begin while the fans waited outside. Eventually, the gates opened and the fans came pouring in.

Karen, Tohru and Yuki got to the front row of the student section right behind the goalpost. Some of the players were already warming up in their warm-up outfits, but not in their regular uniforms. Players tend to do that, especially quarterbacks who have to get their arms warmed up much more than most other players.

"So which one is Jimmy?" Tohru asked. It was a fair question.

Karen looked around, trying to spot her boyfriend and UCF quarterback. Eventually, she found him throwing footballs around. "That's him," she said, "The one in the blue shirt, green shorts and the silly-looking hair." They watched Jimmy and some other players warm up until they left the field for the locker room.

[][][]

Kyo took a deep breath and pulled on his shoulder pads. With the second warm-ups coming soon, the team was getting dressed. He couldn't find Jimmy, but it didn't really matter, anyway. Kyo's locker was in between Marley's and Oakley's lockers, putting the freshman in between the sophomore and the junior.

Marley had his headphones on. Kyo couldn't hear the actual music, but he could hear Marley singing along to the music. "Who is that?" He asked out of pure curiosity.

"Bob Marley," Marley replied. "I listen to him to get ready for the game."

"Oh, I see," Kyo said, going back to putting on his cleats.

Jimmy, meanwhile, was in front of as mirror. He had put on his quarterback pads and was writing on a strip of eye black. He wrote the number '847', Northfield's area code on one of them. On the other, he wrote and interlocking "NT". He put the '847' strip under his left eye and the "NT" strip under the right eye. He smiled and gave a quick nod before returning to his locker to put on his jersey.

Jim Oakley watched Kyo nervously put on his black jersey. The Japanese freshman had clearly not been in a situation like this before. Obviously he was pretty nervous, almost scared. In an attempt to calm his teammate down, Oakley put his hand on Kyo's shoulder. "You okay, Sohma?" He asked.

Kyo turned to him. His eyes showed anxiety and a hint of fear. "Yeah," he lied. "I'm fine."

"No you're not," Oakley replied. "You're scared stiff. You should relax."

"I'm not entirely sure how to do that Oakley," Kyo replied. Jim frowned a little. He searched his mind for something to help Kyo, eventually coming up with something.

"Can't you do something like tai chi?" He asked. "Or meditation?"

"I tend to meditate for 20 minutes," Kyo said. "And since we don't have much time for meditating, I guess I'll have to do some tai chi."

"There you go!" Oakley said.

"You tryin' to help him, Oakley?" Jimmy asked as he came up behind the two of them.

"He's pretty nervous," Oakley said. "I suggested that he do some Tai chi. Should we also give him the UCLA and Liberty Bowl talk?"

"Yeah," Jimmy replied.

"Thanks, but I'd rather do tai chi," said Kyo. Jimmy and Oakley just shrugged in response.

Kyo could only do a couple of minutes of Tai Chi before Coach O' Leary called for the team to come out for pre-game warm-ups, the last ones before the start of the actual game.

They came out to the cheers of the fans that had gotten into the stadium. Many of the remaining spectators had yet to reach their seats for the game. They spread out, in a square, and began doing jumping jacks. "_U! C! F! K! N! I! G! H! T! S!" _They chanted in lieu of counting their jumping jacks before gathering in a big huddle and chanting again before breaking up to warm-up.

It was then that Kyo got a look at the Ohio State players locking arms and getting ready to warm-up. There they were, wearing their famed silver helmets with a red stripe going down the middle flanked by two thinner white stripes and two thinner black stripes. They wore their white jerseys with red numbers and the sleeve stripes were much like their helmet stripe. Their gray pants included the same stripes going down the sides of the legs.

They were big! They practically looked NFL-sized, even the receivers were bigger than him and Jimmy!

"Sohma!" One of the coaches said, snapping him out of his reverie. "Don't worry about them. Worry about yourself!"

"Sorry, coach!" Kyo replied.

"Which one's Kyo?" Yuki asked as he, Karen and Tohru watched the warm-ups.

"I think he's number 80," said Karen. "That's Jerry Rice's number."

"Who?" Yuki asked, since he had no idea about football history.

"He's a famous wide receiver," Karen replied. "Jimmy's number 5."

"Those… guys… are… big!" Tohru sputtered as she marveled (in intimidation) at the Ohio State players. "And we're playing _them_?"

"Yep," Karen replied. "Actually, I think the UCLA or Kentucky guys were much bigger than those guys."

"Shouldn't he be afraid of them?" Yuki asked.

"Afraid?" Karen asked, almost offended that someone would ask that kind of question. "He's not afraid of them. He's more likely to come up and spit in their faces instead of being afraid. He's not afraid of anything… except spiders, they kind of creep him out."

Sure enough, "Those suckers are going down," Jimmy said as he stretched out his right leg. He wore his trademark cocky smile as he shook his head.

"So what's next?" Tohru asked.

"Warm-ups and then the pregame entertainment," said Karen. "I think the Ohio State marching band is here."

"Marching band?" A Scottish accent asked out of nowhere.

"Oh, hi Maggie," said Karen. "What, didn't Scott tell you about them?"

"Aye, but I did nae hear yer sentence," Maggie replied. "So who's—"

"Jimmy's number 5 and Kyo's number 80," Karen interrupted. Maggie looked at her a little offended that she interrupted her. "Sorry."

"Daen't do it again," Maggie said.

"Whatever. I want to see them to the 'Script Ohio'," said Karen.

"What's that?" Yuki asked.

"You'll see!" Karen said with a wink.

The time ticked down until game time. The warm-ups continued as fans continued to enter the stadium. Soon, the Bright House was filled with black, except for a pocket of scarlet and gray at the top of the north endzone seating where the Ohio State fans were gathering. And as the fans filled the stadium, the atmosphere started to get better. The electricity in the atmosphere could easily be felt, even by Tohru and Yuki, who be seen getting very nervous. "Hey Yuki!" Karen called. "Are you okay?"

"Not exactly," the nervous Sohma replied.

"Get used to it," Karen replied. "Besides, once the game gets going, you're going to forget about that."

With about 35 minutes until gametime, both teams gathered around each other—separately, of course. It was one last opportunity to get pumped up before leaving for the locker rooms. Then, with their warm-ups and tune-ups complete, both teams trotted off the field to the applause of both sets of fans; the dominant UCF fans and the minority Ohio State fans. Then, Karen pointed something out to Tohru and Yuki.

"I think that's the Ohio State band," she said, pointing to some people dressed in black with various instruments. Then, the group stepped out onto the field.

"_Good evening Knights fans,"_ the PA announcer boomed. "_And welcome to tonight's pregame entertainment. Starting off for us tonight, we are proud to welcome The Ohio State University Marching Band; The Best Damn Band in the Land, as they treat us to the legendary 'Script Ohio'!"_ At that point, the band came out on the field and formed a large, block "O" and began moving. Tohru could see on the jumbotron the red-and-white-clad drum major leading the band out of the "O" in a single-file formation.

As the drum major continued towards the sideline, the band continued to follow him still in single-file. Then, when he reached the sideline, he led the band into a long curve that went upwards straight back towards the other sideline, all the while playing a marching tune. Then, the drum major led to another curve and the band continued to follow him.

Slowly, the drum major led the band through an intricate pattern that simply amazed not only her, but Yuki as well. The band had already created a letter "O" and was the process of writing a small-case "h" in a script format. It really did look like they were writing this word! Then they wrote the letter "i" before writing a small-case "o".

Then, when the "o" was finished, the drum major led another instrumentalist high-stepping away from the "o". Tohru watched with her mouth wide open as the drum major dramatically pointed at a spot on the grass just beyond the "i". The highly-partisan UCF crowd appreciated the moment and cheering loudly in response as the sousaphone player took his spot as the "dot" of the i. The player bowed deeply before both sides of the stadium before the band went into first the fanfare, then a capella version of the Ohio State fight song. When the band was finished, they doffed their caps and marched off the field.

Needless to say, Tohru was amazed. "What was that?" She asked.

"_That_," Karen replied, "was Script Ohio."

After a few minutes, the UCF band, the Marching Knights was set to take the field. The drumline came out first forming a block, led by three cheerleaders dressed like dungeon masters or something like that. "_Goood evening Knights fans!_" The PA announcer bellowed as the rest of the band took the field. "_And welcome to pregame with the Pride of Central Florida, your UCF Marhiiiiiiiing KNIIIIIIIGHTS!"_ The rest of the band formed a block around the drumline before fanning out a little, scovering most of the field from the 10-yard line to the 40-yard line on the northern part of the field. The PA announcer bellowed something again before the band broke into a fanfare. Then, they began playing the fight song.

As they played, they walked the length of the field, first stopping at the 50-yard line and then starting back up again. They played some dramatic music, making some intricate patterns. Now Yuki and Tohru have never seen college football marching bands, so this was a new experience for them. "That must take a lot of choreography," said Yuki.

"You have no idea," said Karen. Finally, the band finished and the PA announcer started up again.

"_And now, we ask that everyone please rise, honoring our flag and out nation, as UCF director of athletic bands Ron Ellis leads the Marching Knights in our National Anthem with colors presented by the UCF Army ROTC."_

"Tohru, stand up!" Karen said as the crowd rose to their feet. "And put your right hand over your heart, too!" Tohru and Yuki did as they were told and stood silent as the band began playing the "Star Spangled Banner". The crowd mostly stayed silent except for one part where everyone shouted out "_KNIGHT!"_ during the anthem. For those who don't know what it's talking about, it's the part in the song that goes "_Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there_." Tohru, not knowing the words to the song, didn't notice this pun.

The song finished to the roar of the crowd and the PA announcer introduced the cheerleaders as the band made another design on the field. "_Okay Knights fans, it's time to spell out the letters with your Marching Knights!_" The band scrambled around before getting into position. "_GIMME A U!"_

The crowd replied, "_U!" _ Even Tohru and Yuki got into it. Part of the band formed a "U" while playing part of the fight song.

"_GIMME A C!"_

"_C!" _The band formed a "C".

"_GIMME AN F!" _

"_F!" _The band formed an "F".

[][][]

In the locker room, the team gathered around Coach O'Leary and the white board, giving him full attention. He was giving them some final plays before his big pre-game speech. He outlined the plans for the offense and the defense on how to contain the Buckeye defense and to beat their defense. He outlined their formations and plays before finishing up. He was quiet, trying to find the right way to address the team. Finally, he spoke.

"Tonight, you guys are the underdogs," he said. He paused for a moment. "After all, they're ranked #2. But we like that 'underdog' term. It suits us, doesn't it?"

"_YES, SIR!"_ The team shouted back, Kyo included.

"Hell, we _love _it!" O'Leary said again. "I think they created that term for us!" The team laughed, except Kyo. "But that doesn't mean we suck! We are a damn good team and we know it! They don't scare me, and they certainly shouldn't scare you! We can take them! They won't know what the _fuck _hit them! Don't you let up on them, one bit! Level them! We're gonna hold 'em by the nose and we're gonna kick 'em in the ass! We're gonna kicked the hell out of them and we're going to go through them like _shit through a goose!_"

"_YEAH!" _

"Now get the fuck out there and show them what we're made of!" O'Leary finished. The rest of the team cheered and gathered around him. "ONE TWO THREE!"

"_GO KNIGHTS!" _The team followed O'Leary out of the locker room and to the stadium.

It was gametime.

[][][]

"_GO!" _The band, who had gathered in front of the student section shouted.

"_KNIGHTS!" _The students responded. This continued on for a while longer. The atmosphere in the stadium was more charged than a Tesla coil. The pre-game tension had grown big time and now was so thick you'd need an axe to cut it. The Ohio State fans themselves had gotten into the act.

"_O-H!"_

"_I-O!"_

"This is… impressive," Maggie said as she got back to Karen's spot. "It reminds me of home."

"Yeah, but Celtic doesn't have an actual knight parading around on a horse," Karen replied.

"Aye, tha's true," said Maggie. None of them noticed the Knight Captains come out onto the field; but, they didn't really matter anyway. The clock continued to count down. Once it reached a set number, dramatic music began to play over the PA system.

"Oh, it's almost time!" Karen said, her body getting tense. The images flashed on the jumbotron, mostly UCF memorabilia. Then, instead of going into "He's a Pirate", the PA started playing a different song, which Karen mentioned to be "O Fortuna". The screen showed the highlights of of the season so far inter cut with images of knights in battle (it actually makes more sense, since _O Fortuna _is associated with the movie _Excalibur_, which is about the legend of King Arthur. In other words, they're going for the knights theme). When the song ended, a cheer erupted from the crowd.

And then "Thunderstruck" began. It was gametime.

[][][]

[1] Yes, they are _Digimon _characters, but they appear in the story "It's A Grand Old Team to Play For".

By the way, I'm sorry if this particular chapter sucks. But, it will get better in the next chapter when the actual game starts. _That's _where the fun begins!


	7. Charge Onto the Field

The opening bars of the AC/DC song "Thunderstruck" began to play over the PA system. Immediately, the crowd knew what was going on and began clapping in rhythm. On the big screen, images of the current Knights players were flashed on the screen; Jimmy, Marley, Oakley, Hanson, Josh Stevens, George Rooney, Kyo, Charles Jones, Wolarski, Byron Johnson and others. "_Knights fans, ON! YOUR! FEET!_" The fans didn't really need much ordering around as they stood up.

Meanwhile, the team made their way to the tunnel where they would enter the field from. The tunnel was extended, thanks to an inflatable knight helmet. They were feeling _very _confident in their abilities right about now and felt they could beat the Buckeyes. Jimmy bobbed his head in time with the music and cackled in his own style. "Now _this _is an in—oh, here comes the smoke!"

Some smoke machines had begun to make some smoke that obscured the tunnel but added to the dramatic effect of the moment. "Man, they pulled out all the stops tonight!" Stevens said.

"Oh, yeah!" Oakley replied.

Kyo, meanwhile, wasn't feeling so confident. He was nervous beyond description and was already starting to sweat. "Hang in there Sohma," said Hanson.

"Easy for you to say," said Kyo. "You've done this before!"

"Once that adrenaline flows, you won't be so scared," he replied.

Back outside, the noise level was starting to grow, only a few seconds into the song. The Buckeyes had already taken the field, but the Knights were just seconds from charging the tunnel. The crowd stomped in time with the song, mostly the "THUN-DER" lyrics. The whole stadium was rocking and bouncing up and down, waiting for the Knights to take the field.

"_Heeeeeeerrrrrrrre come the KNIIIGGGHHHTTTSSS!"_

The crowd roared as the Knights charged through the smoke and on to the field. The roar was so loud Tohru had to cover her ears while Karen pretty much screamed her lungs out. Kyo let the adrenaline take over as he took the field while Jimmy just hammed it up as much as possible. The band was playing the fight song, but it was drowned out by the noise of the crowd.

The Knights took to the sideline and the players—save for the quarterbacks who did some additional warm-ups—gathered around Hanson, who had taken his helmet off. "WE!"

"_WE!"_

"WE DON'T!"

"_WE DON'T!"_

"WE DON'T MESS!"

"_WE DON'T MESS!"_

"WE DON'T MESS AROUND,"

"_HEY! WE DON'T MESS AROUND, HEY! WE DON'T MESS AROUND, HEY! WE DON'T MESS AROUND, HEY!"_

The captains, Marley, Stevens and two others came out to midfield where the Ohio State captains, #4 Kurt Coleman, # 38 Austin Spitler and # 84 Doug Worthington as well as the officials met them. The Buckeye captains, as the visitors, chose Heads. The referee tossed the coin in the air and it landed on the ground. "It's tails," he said to the roar of the UCF crowd. "UCF has won the toss. What do you wish to do?"

"We'll receive," said Marley.

"UCF has won the toss and has elected to receive," said the referee. Then he made the captains choose which side they wanted to attack first. The Knights chose to face the south endzone where the student section was. The captains, along with both teams, stepped forward and shook hands before returning to their respective sidelines.

Sean McDonough: "_So UCF will get the ball first and their high-flying offense will hope to strike first._"

Todd Blackledge: "_The Buckeyes need to find a way to stop Jimmy Michaels and the UCF receiver corps. If they can't then they're not going to stop this UCF offense."_

The song "Kernkraft 400" began to play and the student section started bouncing and "singing" along with the tune. The players on the UCF sideline hoisted their helmets up in the air, Kyo included. The fans waved their black rally towels and made as much noise as possible while #20 Aaron Pettrey and the Ohio State kicking team set up defending the south endzone. David Marley and Josh Stevens were back to receive for the Knights.

The crowd level increased as Pettrey signaled to the referee that he was ready. The referee blew his whistle and Pettery and the Buckeyes ran forward and Pettrey sent a long, end-over-end kick to Marley, who was 1 yard in front of the endzone. The crowd silenced as Marley caught the ball and took off. Immediately the Ohio State defense swarmed around the dreadlocked receiver and brought him down, but not before gaining 24 yards on the kick, setting the Knights up at their own 25-yard line.

"_JIM-MY MI-CHAELS! (clap, clap, clap, clap-clap-clap) JIM-MY MI-CHAELS! (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap) JIM-MY MI-CHAELS! (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)"_ The student section chanted. Jimmy took some orders from Coach O'Leary before trotting out to the field at the near hash mark where the rest of the offense, Kyo included, was waiting.

"All right guys," he said with his cocky tone. "Let's show these Ohio boys how we do it here." He gave the guys the play. "On one, on one, readyyy…"

"_BREAK!"_ The Knights came out of the huddle and set up in a spread formation with five receivers (from left to right: Marley, Byron Johnson on the left side of the line of scrimmage; Oakley, Stevens and Kyo on the right side of the line) and Jimmy 5 yards behind Charles Jones. Ohio State had set up in a 3-4 defense; 3 D-liners and 4 linebackers.

"DOWN! SET!" Kyo licked his lips in nervousness as Jimmy called the play out. "HUH HUH!" Jimmy faked the call a couple times to draw the Ohio State defenders into an offsides penalty, but it didn't work. "HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy while the receivers took of on their respective pass routes.

Jimmy immediately dropped back, looking for a receiver. He found Oakley cutting towards the middle of the field and threw to him. Oakley lunged for the ball and the ovoid sphere landed in his hands before he tucked it in. Then he turned south and evaded a pair of Ohio State cornerbacks for an extra gain before being taken down at the 36-yard line. "_Michaels' pass to #81 Jim Oakley complete; gain of 11 yards, enough for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!" _The student section replied. The Knights huddled up again and Jimmy called the next play.

"Ready…"

"_BREAK!" _The offense set up in another spread formation, this time with Byron Johnson coming off the field and replaced by Josh Hanson to Jimmy's left at running back. This left 4 receivers on the field, this time Oakley set up to the left of the offense. Jimmy set up behind Jones.

"DOWN! SET!" Jimmy shouted out. Kyo was nervous, but he knew he had to keep still. Any wrong move and the team could be penalized for a false start. "HUT HUT!"

Jones snapped the ball the Jimmy and the receivers took off. Jimmy faked the hand-off to Hanson and dropped back to pass. Kyo followed his pass route, only turning slightly inwards 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. Jimmy threw to Kyo and Kyo caught the ball before being tackled by the Ohio State linebacker and captain Austin Spitler.

"_Michaels' pass to # 80, Kyo Sohma complete; gain of 7 yards, brings up a 2__nd__ and 3."_

"Was that Kyo?" Tohru asked.

"Yep," said Karen. "I saw him at the last home game."

SMcD: "_That was Kyo Sohma, the wide receiver with his first reception of the game as we take a look at the UCF starting offense. We've got Michaels in at quarterback, the star from Northfield, Illinois. The running backs, Josh Hanson who took over from Kevin Smith last year from Belle Glade, Florida and Roger Wolarski from Los Angeles, California. The tight ends are Henry Thompson an Orlando native and Desmond Gregory of Pahokee, Florida. The Knights' receiving corps is one of the best in the country, with star David Marley from Atlanta, Jim Oakley from Pinckneyville, Illinois, Josh Stevens from Gainesville, which is Gator country, Byron Johnson from Jacksonville, Florida and Kyo Sohma from Kaibara, Japan."_

TB: "_Sohma's only been playing for two years, but he got some training from Sadaharu Fuji, supposed to be the best football player from Japan. And he came in two weeks ago to replace DeShawn Johnson, who was supposed to be the Knights' next top receiver before suffering a season-ending knee injury."_

SMcD: _"Obviously, he's got some good credentials as Michaels takes the snap…"_

Jimmy scrambled out of the pocket and looked for a receiver downfield. Unfortunately, he couldn't find one and instead decided to take it himself, taking off towards the 46-yard line. However, he was forced out of bounds just short of the first down.

"_Number 5, Jimmy Michaels on the quarterback keeper; gain of 2 yards, brings up a 3__rd__ and 1 at the 45-yard line."_

SMcD: "_Michaels takes the ball himself but comes up short. We're going to look at the rest of the UCF offense, we've got at tight end Henry Thompson, an Orlando native and Desmond Gregory from Pahokee, Florida. The O-line has gotten a lot of good press, itself. The defensive tackles are George McCoy from Memphis and John Desmond from Tallahassee. At offensive guard are Lionel Hamilton from Hoover, Alabama and Deshawn Brooks from Miami. We round them out at center, Charles Jones from Orlando, the All-American as the Knights line up in the I formation."_

"HUT HUT!" Again, Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy who quickly handed it off to Roger Wolarski who took it and pounded it in for the first down.

"_Roger Wolarski the ball carrier; gain of two yards, enough for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

Now the Knights had a fresh set of downs and a stopped clock. The time showed 13:15 left in the first quarter. The Knights were looking good so far. "On one, on one, ready…"

"_BREAK!" _The offense lined up in a spread formation again with the same line-up of receivers they had in the first play from scrimmage. They lined up on the 48-yard line. Again, Jimmy was in the shotgun position.

"DOWN! SET!" Jimmy called out. Kyo waited for Jimmy's call to start. "Set, HUT!" The two offensive lines crashed together and the receivers took off. Jimmy dropped back and found Kyo as the receiver again. He whipped the ball right to him and Kyo reached out to catch the ball.

…Only for an Ohio State cornerback to come in and intercept the ball.

"SHIT! GET 'IM!" Jimmy shouted. Kyo lunged at the Buckeye safety but he fell flat on his chest as the safety got away from him.

SMcD: "_Picked off by_ _Chekwa!"_

The O-line scrambled to catch the Ohio State cornerback Chimdi Chekwa, even Jimmy. However, he broke free and sprinted down the UCF sideline before Jim Oakley managed to catch him and bring him down at the UCF 4-yard line.

Kyo walked off the field in disappointment, thinking he shouldn't have overrun the pass route. His inexperience had certainly cost the team and he sat down on the bench shaking his head.

Jimmy walked off the field and sat down wishing he could have that pass back. It almost reminded him of the UTEP game last year when he threw a pass just like that.

"Oh jeez," said Karen. "That's not good."

"Why?" Tohru asked. "What happened?"

"Jimmy just threw an interception," Karen replied.

"Why, is that bad?" Yuki asked.

"Didn't Kyo teach you both the fundamentals of football?" Karen asked. Yuki and Tohru stayed silent, prompting Karen to sigh in exasperation and resume talking. "It's when the quarterback throws to an opposing player who catches the ball. It's an automatic turnover."

"So it's bad?" Tohru asked.

"Very bad," Karen replied.

The Knights defense came out on the field for their first series of the game, along with the Ohio State offense, led by Terrelle Pryor. Kyo kept his eyes on Pryor, since Jimmy was talking about him a lot. The Buckeyes lined up on the Knights' 4-yard line in an I-formation. Pryor took the snap, faked the hand off to Dan Herron and dropped back to pass. The Buckeye O-line did its job and gave Pryor time to throw into the endzone to receiver Dane Sanzenbacher for the Buckeye touchdown. Jimmy laid his head back and sighed in exasperation.

"Fuck," he sighed. Most of the team and fans were shaking their heads in disappointment. The Buckeye fans, however, you can tell their reaction. The Ohio State band played the "Buckeye Battle Cry" fight song as Pettery and the Ohio State kicking team set up for the extra point. Pettery kicked the ball easily through the uprights for the point after, giving the Buckeyes a 7-0 lead.

Coach O'Leary though, kept his cool and prepared to send his offense back out. "Don't worry," he said. "It's just one touchdown, we can respond easily."

After the media timeout, O'Leary showed Jimmy some plays that the Knights could respond with. Jimmy seemed interested and decided to give the plays a shot.

On the kick-off, Pettery kicked the ball into the endzone where Josh Stevens caught the ball and took a knee for a touchback, setting the Knights up on their own 20-yard line. The offense trotted out to the line, with Jimmy lingering near the sideline for some extra instructions from O'Leary before trotting over to his teammates. "All right guys," he said. "Let's give these a try." He gave the instructions to the offense.

"_BREAK!"_ Again, the Knights lined up in a spread-style formation. This time, the receivers were in a different position; Johnson, Oakley and Kyo were to the left of the line and Marley and Stevens were on the right; in that order.

"DOWN!" Jimmy shouted from his position in the Shotgun. The Buckeye defense shifted slightly in preparation. Jones relayed the shifts to the O-line to warn them. "Set… HUT!"

Jones snapped the back to Jimmy and he dropped back to pass while the receivers took off. The O-line held like a castle wall, allowing Jimmy time in the pocket to look for a receiver. He found one running down the Buckeye sideline. Jimmy released the ball down the field.

Byron was being hounded by the Buckeye cornerback as he sprinted down the Buckeye sideline. A quick look back and he saw Jimmy heave the ball in his direction. Now catching a football is not easy. You have to include such factors as the time the ball was released, how fast you're going, where the ball is going to land, and whether you can escape the defender, among other things. However, for an experienced receiver like Johnson, this was easy and he was able to make the catch before going out of bounds at the 47-yard line.

SMcD: "_JOHNSON with a fantastic catch, forced out of bounds at the 47-yard line! The Knights offense just got the kick-start they needed!"_

"_Michaels' pass to #13, Byron Johnson complete; gain of 27 yards, enough for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

O'Leary applauded his players on the sideline before Jimmy got some instructions from the coaches. Kyo, Johnson and Oakley were taken off the field and Hanson, Wolarski, and Gregory came in on offense. In the huddle, Jimmy gave the guys another play, this one different from the last. "On two, on two, ready…

"_BREAK!"_

Marc Daniels: "_The Knights are knocking on the Buckeyes' door here, only 3 yards from getting into Buckeye territory for the first time tonight. Knights line up in the "I"-formation, Michaels in under center, Hanson and Wolarski behind Michaels, Marley and Stevens in at receiver."_

"DOWN! SET!" Jimmy called out. Again, the Buckeye defense shifted, anticipating the Knights' next move. It was here that Jimmy got a look at the middle linebacker. Number 40 looked ready to blitz and he was staring right at Jimmy. He looked Japanese, like Kyo. Jimmy gave him his trademark smirk. "What's up?" He asked in his cocky tone. "HUT HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy and he dropped back before handing it off to Hanson while Wolarski moved to block. Hanson followed Wolarski and ran into the O-line. But he found a hole created by the O-line and slipped through. The Buckeye defense had difficulty stopping him as he weaved through the defense, finally brought down after a lengthy gain.

MD: "_And he's brought down at the 40-yard line of the Buckeyes!"_

"_Gain of 13 yards, enough for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

SMcD: _"And thanks to Hanson's run, Central Florida crosses into Buckeye territory for the first time tonight."_

Hanson, Wolarski and Gregory came off and the rest of the receiving corps came on the field. The Knights huddled up and Jimmy gave them the play. The huddle broke and the Knights spread out the field with their receivers. Marley and Johnson were to the left of the line of scrimmage while Kyo, Stevens and Oakley were to the right of the line. Jimmy called out the signals and then called for the snap.

Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy and he dropped back a couple steps. Again, the offensive line did its job, keeping the Buckeyes from penetrating the line of scrimmage. Jimmy looked for an open receiver downfield, hoping for long yardage.

He stayed in the pocket for a few moments before he realized an OSU linebacker had broken through and was bearing down on him. Instantly, he scrambled out of the pocket towards the UCF sideline and found Jim Oakley downfield.

Oakley watched the ball in flight as he battled the Buckeye cornerback. With his speed, he managed to gain some ground on the Buckeye as he watched Jimmy's pass fly in his direction. But from the ball's trajectory, it had been overthrown only slightly. Oh well. SportsCenter highlight on the way. He lunged for the ball as it fell into his hands. He fell on the grass, fully extended.

SMcD: "_Oakley makes the fantastic catch! He lands fully extended on the 7-yard line, a 33-yard pass! And now, UCF is right on the Buckeyes' doorstop, well into the Red Zone."_

TB: "_This is why the UCF receivers are among the best in the country. It is their nonchalant attitude towards the big play that makes them so dangerous. It's almost like it's a second nature to them."_

"… _Gain of 33 yards, enough for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

"_It's first-and-goal UCF from the Ohio State 7-yard-line!"_

"There we go, Knights!" Karen shouted after the play was whistled dead. Most of the stadium was still buzzing from the long-yardage play that just got them within 5 yards of the endzone. Yuki watched the Knights' offense with interest.

"Why aren't they throwing to Kyo?" He asked. Okay, maybe he wasn't that impressed.

Tohru, however, could barely watch.

She had her face covered by her hands and wasn't even trying to peek. She had been like that for the last several minutes. "Is it over?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"I still wonder if you even _went _to Kyo's games in Japan," Karen replied. "Anyway, it's 1st-and-goal at the Buckeye 7-yard line."

"All right, let's go for the endzone," O'Leary said into Jimmy's helmet radio. He relayed his instructions to Jimmy and he nodded in response, looking for the play on his wristband.

"All right," Jimmy said in the huddle. He gave the play before saying something else. "Look out the linebacker # 40, he looks dangerous. On one on one, ready…"

"_BREAK!" _

The Knights came out of the huddle and lined up in a Pistol formation, Jimmy closer to the offensive line than in the shotgun. Again, 5 receivers lined up on the line of scrimmage. Kyo got a look at number 40, trying to see what the big deal was. Said linebacker was focused more on Jimmy. Ohio State was lined up in a 4-3 formation, not something Jimmy was expecting for a 1st-and-goal. They did, however, show blitz. "DOWN! SET!"

Jimmy shouted out the plays. Several Buckeyes shifted positions. "HUT!" The Buckeye defense crashed into the Knights' offensive line, but the gallant Knights held. Jimmy took the snap and immediately threw into the endzone, right to Kyo. Kyo reached out to catch the ball.

But he bobbled the ball and it landed on the grass. The referee came in, whistling the play dead and waving it incomplete.

"_Michaels' pass incomplete; Kyo Sohma the intended receiver, it is 2__nd__-and-goal at the Ohio State 7-yard-line."_

Tohru had her head down in despair at Kyo's failure to make the catch. "Oh, why did he drop it?" She asked.

"That didn't look good," Karen said. "That was an easy pass and he failed to make the catch."

"Sohma!" Jimmy said back in the huddle. "How could you drop that?"

"I don't know!" Kyo replied. Jimmy sighed in exasperation. He was in no mood to argue about this.

"Alright," he said. "Same play. On one, on one, ready…"

"_Break!" _

The Knights lined up in the same formation, as did the Buckeyes. "DOWN! SET!" Jimmy overlooked the defense, looking for any weaknesses. He had to hand it to OSU, they always had a solid defense. One cornerback, however, shifted and Jimmy realized that the cornerback had opened up a route for Josh Stevens. "HUT!"

Again, the two lines crashed into each other and Jimmy took the snap. When he received the ball, he immediately dumped it off to Josh Stevens on the far right side. Stevens made the catch and easily walked into the endzone.

"_TOUCHDOWN, UCF!"_

SMcD: "_Touchdown, Stevens! Central Florida answers quickly!"_

A collective roar swept through Bright House Networks Stadium. Hanson tossed the ball to the ref and did side-bash with David Marley. As Jimmy approached, he and Hanson flexed their bicep in a cocky show of strength before trotting off the field. Kyo stayed away, this was not something for him to do. These were guys who had played together before. He was the new guy, he didn't exactly belong.

The Knights tacked on the extra point, tying the game at 7. The Knights sideline was brimming with confidence. And why wouldn't they be? With the drive they just completed, it was pretty obvious: They could beat these guys. And no, not because they were the scrappy underdogs; they were just good.

While the coaches talked to the offense, the two kick-off teams came out on the field. The referee blew his whistle and Knights kicker Gary Hoover sent a powerful end-over-end kick to # 7 Lamaar Thomas of the Buckeyes. Thomas caught the ball at the 3-yard-line and took out to the 19-yard line before being brought down by the Knights.

The Knights defense trotted out onto the field while on the far sideline, Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel gave his offense a pep talk. Eventually, the Buckeyes came out on the field and huddled around before lining up in a spread formation to face the Knights defense, which lined up in a 3-4 defense (3 defensive linemen and 4 linebackers).

Pryor took the snap from the center and faked the hand-off to # 1 Daniel Herron before taking off himself. The Knights defense was confused at first, as if they had been expecting him to throw to one of his receivers and were caught off guard by Pyror's run and they were unable to stop him as he ran for the first down, being brought down by the linebacker.

"Dammit!" said Karen.

"Pryor?" Yuki asked, recognizing the name. "Jimmy was talking about him. He said he was overrated. He didn't look overrated there!"

"Overrated means that he's not as good as many people think," said Karen. "In this case, Jimmy mean's he's overrated as a quarterback and a passer, but not as a runner."

"What do you mean?" Yuki asked.

"Jimmy said that he thinks Pryor's not a good signal caller and thrower," said Karen. "But he admitted he's concerned about Pryor's ability to run."

"Oh," said Yuki.

The Buckeyes were now on their own 25-yard line. The Knights defense countered the Buckeye thread with a 3-4 defense again. Pryor took the snap and threw a short pass to Dane Sanzenbacher, who was taken down by the UCF cornerback, gaining 7 yards.

By now, the coaches were done addressing the Knights offense and Kyo was watching from the sideline. Hanson was on his left and Jimmy was on his right. "Looks like they're having trouble," said Jimmy. "I guess Pryor might be better than I thought."

"Better runner or thrower?" Hanson asked sarcastically.

"Thrower," said Jimmy. "I never doubted his abilities as a—oh, shit!" Sure enough, Pryor had taken off again, fooling the UCF defense and running down the UCF sideline before being pushed out of bounds and right next to Jimmy.

"Hey," Pryor said to Jimmy.

"Hey," Jimmy replied a little confused. He shrugged to Hanson who was chuckling a little.

However, Kyo was looking at the Buckeye sideline. Number 40 looked familiar, but he couldn't quite… oh, crap.

"Hey Sohma," said Jimmy. "Whatcha looking at?"

"Number 40 on the Buckeye sideline," said Kyo. "I've seen him before."

"Really?" Jimmy asked. "Where?"

"That's Seijiro Shin," Kyo replied. "He's the best linebacker to come out of Japan. He's nasty."

"He looks like Bruce Lee," said Jimmy. Kyo looked at Jimmy a little strangely; Jimmy didn't look scared of him one bit. "He can't stop me."

Back on the field, Pryor and the Buckeyes were still running over the UCF defense. Despite how good the UCF defense is supposed to be, they weren't holding the Buckeyes very well, letting them gain yards and first downs. Pryor threw a short lateral to Herron, the Buckeye running back running over the UCF defense again, stopping at the UCF 36-yard line.

"Come on!" Jimmy shouted. "Stop 'em!" The problem was the Buckeyes were kind of letting them. The Buckeyes were making mostly short gains that the Knights defense had trouble stopping and in turn, running the clock down. It's a strategy most teams save later when they've got a big lead to prevent the opponents from getting a fourth down and tiring out the defense. The Buckeyes had already shaved 6 minutes off the clock, getting it down to 4 minutes to go in the quarter. Now, the Buckeyes had a 2nd and goal on the Knights' five-yard line—that was fast.

By now, the crowd had gotten louder, making as much noise as possible to rattle the Buckeye offense. Pryor was under center and took the snap before dropping back to pass. He threw and the pass was almost picked off by the UCF defense, eliciting a groan from the UCF crowd. Things quieted down for a moment before the Buckeyes got back out of the huddle.

"_It's 3__rd__ and goal, Ohio State!_" now the crowd was really into the game, yelling at the top of their lungs. The noise inside the stadium was much louder than Kyo had heard at the Richmond game. Tohru had to keep her ears covered since she wasn't used to this kind of noise. Even the Knights sideline got into the act, urging the crowd to make noise. The Jumbotron flashed "MAKE SOME NOISE". By now, it was hard to even hear the guy next to you.

Pyror lined up under center before taking the snap. He dropped back, looking for a receiver. The crowd noise must have had an effect on him, because he was having difficulty. He threw into the endzone, but the ball was tipped and fell incomplete, earning a roar from the crowd. Now Ohio State was forced to try for the Field Goal. Tressel didn't seem willing to risk a turnover early in the game so he called the offense off the field and sent on the Special Teams unit to try for the field goal. Pettrey's field goal attempt was good, giving the Buckeyes the lead back, but only 10-7, keeping the Knights within striking distance.

"Alright," said Jimmy. "We'll take the field goal, it doesn't matter, we can still get 'em."

After the kick-off, the Knights offense came back on the field unfortunately deep in their own end of the field around the 15-yard line. It was a tough task, but with a quarterback like Jimmy, the Knights had a good chance.

They lined up in a spread formation again with 5 receivers. The Knights' use of this form of offense is to take advantage of Jimmy's arm strength and the speed and agility of the receivers. "Set… HUT!" Jimmy took the snap from Jones and dropped back a short distance. He looked for an open receiver, finding Marley and threw to him. Marley easily made the catch before being forced out of bounds at the 25-yard line.

"_Enough yardage for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

SMcD: "_First-and-Ten at their own 25-yard line, UCF has to hurry before the quarter ends if they wan to score. They line up in the spread formation…"_

Jimmy looked over the Buckeye defense. From what it seemed, they had a formation that in this case had a weak spot on the left side of the field. Oakley and Stevens were on that side in this case. "DOWN! SET!" Kyo listened to Jimmy call out the signals. He was also watching Shin, knowing the linebacker could come right for him. "HUT!"

Jimmy took the snap and dropped back to pass. He threw to Oakley near the Ohio State sideline. Oakley made the catch and immediately found himself up against a Buckeye cornerback. He juked right, then left before getting past the cornerback for an extra gain. He was eventually brought down 5 yards past the first down marker, a 15-yard gain.

"Nice," said Jimmy. "Alright, we're going to keep the pressure on them." He gave them the play in the huddle, each of them listening. "On one, on one, ready…"

"_BREAK!"_ The huddle was broken and they lined up again in the spread. Kyo line up on the far right side, right next to the UCF sideline.

"DOWN! SET!" The Buckeye defense shifted slightly as Jimmy called out the plays. Josh Stevens, on the near right side, went in motion and shifted to the left side of the line of scrimmage. The Buckeyes showed blitz and Jimmy knew he'd have to get the play off immediately. "HUT!"

Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy and the receivers took off. He looked for an open receiver, taking his time. Unfortunately, it didn't really matter. He looked in front of him to see Seijiro Shin coming right at him. "Oh, shit." He said calmly.

_BOOM!_

Shin clobbered Jimmy and brought him down hard for a loss of 7 yards. Jimmy hit the ground in a light daze as Shin got up off of him, being congratulated by his teammates. In high school, he was the frequent victim of sacks since his O-line was not the best in the state of Illinois, not even close. However, this O-line is supposed to be the best in the country. Unfortunately, they didn't hold and Jimmy was sacked for the first time in the season.

"Jimmy, you okay?" Stevens asked after Jimmy they got back in the huddle.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm fine. Alright, let's try this." He gave the play to the offense, all of them listening intently. "Ready…"

"_BREAK!"_ The Knights lined back up in the same formation. Kyo again lined up on the right side, but on the middle right side this time. Jimmy looked over the defense, staring down Seijiro Shin.

"You're not getting me this time," he said playing mind games with the Ohio State linebacker. "DOWN! SET!" Kyo listened and waited, hoping Jimmy would call the play before time ran out. Don't want a play to be killed because of a Delay of Game penalty. "Set… HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy and Kyo took off on his pass route.

Jimmy dropped back slightly and looked for an open receiver. It was difficult, since the Buckeyes were covering the Knights receivers like white on rice. He had to find…

He found Kyo. _Idiots! _He thought. _They don't even have coverage for him!_ Indeed, Kyo was wide open in the middle of the field, with not a single defender anywhere near him. They must have underestimated him, big time. Oh, they were going to pay. Instantly, Jimmy threw a pass to Kyo's position, about 7 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Kyo easily caught the ball, turned around and took off.

SMcD: "_Michaels, throws to Sohma—THERE'S NO ONE AROUND HIM! Sohma breaks free!"_

Kyo turned on the jets and sprinted towards the endzone. The Buckeyes realized too late that they had left him open and where in a vain pursuit. The crowd rose and willed him on, cheering as he ran. Tohru got excited, also willing him onward.

As Kyo ran, he began to think. He thought about life back in Japan. Quite frankly, it sucked.

SMcD: "_He's at the Knights' 40!"_

His father hated him. His mother feared him. The rest of the family hated him because he was the cat. He was different. He wasn't even part of the Zodiac. He was the one really cursed. He would be put in a room for the rest of his life, forced to rot until the end of his days. Despite the love of Kazuma, he knew that he was doomed to live alone for eternity.

SMcD: "_He's into Buckeye territory!"_

Then Tohru came. She was annoying at first but he eventually warmed up to her and well, you know the rest. He felt like she was his world now; his reason for living. Her smile always made him feel better. With her lover, the curse was broken. But, there was also football.

SMcD: "_To the 30!"_

The fans here didn't care what he was back in Japan. Here, he was just a player, just a football player. And he liked that. He couldn't quite see, but he knew they were cheering him on. They were willing him on. For the first time in his life, other than the love of Kazuma and Tohru, he felt appreciated.

SMcD: "_The 20!"_

The football team was like his family now. He could count on them whenever he needed help. He was shy at first, but now he was going to try and open up to them.

SMcD: "_Fifteen!"_

He felt reborn. He was a phoenix rising from the ashes. He felt free, oh so free.

SMcD: "_The Ten! Five!"_

Yeah, these people didn't personally know him, but who cares? The fans were terrific and they would not doubt be supportive. He had a reason to continue football. It made him feel free. It helped him be reborn. It helped him cope with the shitty past he had before coming to Florida. But he also had another reason for loving football.

SMcD: _"TOUCHDOWN!"_

It was so much fun.

[][][]

End chapter


	8. We'll Never Yield

Jimmy threw to Kyo, hoping for at least a first down gain. Since the Buckeye defense had no one covering Sohma, it was likely they would quickly realize their mistake and bring him down after a good gain. However, that didn't happen. Suddenly, Kyo bolted away from the defenders with a speed he had not seen before. To put it quite frankly, Jimmy was surprised. However, he still got excited, jumping up and down with his hands raised in the air, watching Kyo sprint towards the end zone.

In the stands, Karen, Yuki and Tohru were at first nervous, but once Kyo broke free they quickly went insane just like the rest of the stadium as Kyo sprinted towards the endzone right in front of them. Tohru was the most ecstatic, jumping up and down like a mad girl

As Kyo crossed the goal line, all 40,000 fans (save for the Buckeye fans) erupted. The noise was borderline deafening as Kyo slammed the ball on the turf and screamed to the heavens. Tohru got even more excited when he pointed right at her. The rest of the offense sprinted downfield to get to him and he leapt into Charles Jones's arms.

SMcD: "_Kyo Sohma, the freshman for UCF! The Buckeyes didn't even stand a chance, he was gone before they even saw him, it's 13-10 pending the extra point!"_

TB: "_This has got to be one of the worst defensive lapses I have ever seen. Look—there's nobody around him! Jim Tressel has got to be furious at his defenders; there is no excuse for this."_

"YEAH, SOHMA!" Josh Stevens shouted as Jones put Kyo down. Most of the offense was mobbing him and soon Jimmy reached him.

"Damn, Sohma," he said. "Where the hell did you get the jets from?"

"I'm not telling!" Kyo replied.

"You magnificent bastard," Jimmy said as they trotted back to the sideline. When they got back, the rest of the team kept high-fiving and patting him on the back and head. Pretty much standard football player celebrations.

Gary Hoover kicked the extra point, giving the Knights a 14-10 lead. Now the atmosphere in the stadium was super-charged. The feeling among the crowd and team was that the Knights had a chance to win this game.

Over 4,000 miles away in a certain Scottish city, Jimmy's older brother Scott made his way through the pub crowd to get to the bar. The place was packed enough that a famous footballer like Scott could easily get lost in the crowd. He was pretty much an older version of Jimmy, except with blue eyes (recessive genes). "Hey!" He called to the bartender. "You get ESPN channels?"

"Aye," the bartender replied. "Why?"

"Can you turn on ESPN2? My little brother's playing football and I need to see his game."

"Is he a footballer like you?" The bartender asked.

"Well, no," said Scott. "He plays American football." The bartender was not pleased one bit. "Oh, come on!" said Scott. "It's my little bro, I gotta see him!"

"All right!" The bartender said. Scott pulled up a chair which just happened to be right next to his teammate Tai Kamiya.

"You certainly have a way with words," said Tai. It was clearly sarcastic and Scott knew it.

"It's a gift," Scott replied. "By the way, is Kari at UCF now?"

"I think she might be at the game," Tai replied.

"Nice," said Scott. The bartender found the game and Scott was pleasantly surprised at the score. "Fourteen to ten?" He asked. "Man, this is even better than I thought!"

"Who is that guy that just scored?" Tai asked, pointing at the screen. "He looks Japanese."

"I think that's Kyo Sohma," said Scott. "He's actually Jimmy's roommate."

"Not bad," said Tai.

"And Jimmy says he's the guy he mentioned at last year's Christmas party. But then again, you probably don't remember that."

"I probably don't," said Tai.

Back at the stadium, Tohru was on Cloud 9. Hell, not just her, but the whole student section. The "U-C-F" chant was in full force. Practically the entire student section was chanting. For the first time, Tohru found herself chanting along with the rest of the student section. "You're a natural!" said Karen.

"I am?" Tohru asked. "I didn't know that. But I'm still so excited! Kyo made a touchdown! And we're winning!"

"It's only the first quarter," said Karen. "And it's just about over."

After the kick-off, Ohio State was only able to run one play before time ran out on the first quarter. Now the teams would switch the end zones they attacked. The media took a timeout, enough for the people at home to go to the bathroom, get another beer or make a sandwich. The coaches addressed their players, praising them for their good plays and noting their mistakes. Sports psychology is a very complex subject, and the coaches are masters at it. The author wouldn't even be able to hold a candle these guys so we won't even go over it.

Alas, things did not go well for the Knights in the second quarter. The Buckeyes ran their fast offense at the beginning of the quarter. They overran the Knights' castle walls in five minutes to re-gain the lead, 17-14. The Knights' offense then came out to try and launch a counter attack. They got to the 50-yard line when Jimmy threw a pass that he thought would re-create Kyo's magnificent touchdown. However, the Buckeyes had caught on to Kyo and actually put defenders on him. Chimdi Chekwa, the same guy who picked off Jimmy's earlier pass, picked this one off but he just fell to the ground. A frustrated Jimmy cursed as he trotted off the field.

The Buckeyes went for a slower offense again when they came back on the field. Pryor would just hand the ball off to Daniel Herron and he'd burst up the middle and make it difficult for the Knights to stop him. Pryor also ran on his own, wreaking havoc for the Knights' defense. Kyo watched in disappointment from the bench as his teammates tried in futility to stop the Buckeyes. Eventually, the Buckeyes got to the end zone when Pryor threw to Dane Sanzenbacher for his second touchdown of the night, putting them up 24-14. The once-loud Bright House Networks Stadium crowd was silent, while the Buckeye fans made all the noise.

The offense went back out to try and stop the bleeding. Again, they marched past the Buckeyes, but Ohio State buckled down. On 2nd-and-5 at midfield, Jimmy took the snap to try and pass downfield. However, Seijiro Shin crashed into him for a 7-yard loss. Jimmy was shaken, but he didn't feel like he had a concussion. He was taken off the field, though to be checked for a concussion, but he checked out okay.

When he came back out, he was still sharp, but the Buckeyes were sharper. They swarmed the Knights and Jimmy was again brought down for the third sack on him, again by Seijiro Shin. The air in the stadium was out and it felt like a deflated balloon. Nobody left, though, since the Knights were only down by 10 with the second half coming soon. These valiant Knights could make a comeback… right?

The Knights were forced to punt on this drive and Jimmy stormed off the field in frustration. As he sat down on the bench, the coaches gave him words of encouragement, even though he had been roughed up in two previous plays.

Kyo was even more disappointed than Jimmy. After that touchdown, he was on the highest of highs, but he'd been brought back down to Earth by the Buckeye defense. They recognized him as a threat and put defenders around him every time he went long. In fact, the Buckeyes had neutralized the Knights' incredibly fast receiver corps and forced them to run. And they were even able to neutralize Hanson, too.

The half finally came to an end just as the Buckeyes were about to score again, saving the Knights from being down 17 points at the end of the second half. That didn't help the rest of the fans, though. None of them left (just to go to the bathroom or to get a snack), but you could tell if things went worse it would be the end for the Knights. The team walked off the field and back to the locker room with disappointment written all over their faces.

"Jeez," said Karen. "Not a good quarter."

"So Ohio State's good, huh?" Tohru asked. She doesn't follow football, so it's a good excuse.

"Number 2 in the country," said Karen. "They're really good. We're unranked, but we should be, even in the top 12."

"We're not playing like that," said Yuki.

"Och, tha's nae a good sign," said Maggie.

"When did you get here?" Karen asked in surprise.

"Jes now," she replied. "You're supposed tae be good, right?"

"But they're supposed to be really good," said Karen.

"Och," said Maggie. "Ye'd better come back."

"I hope we do."

The locker room was a sad scene. The players were barely even in the mood for a pep talk from O' Leary. Even though they were down ten, the Buckeyes had dominated them completely in the second quarter and their spirits were down. The team that was in the locker room was a shell of its once confident self. They pretty much felt bad. Kyo especially felt bad.

Jimmy rose from his seat and began looking at his teammates. "Pathetic," he said. "We've been down like this before and now you're feeling sorry for yourselves? You pussies."

"Hey," said Hanson. "Don't talk to us like that."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt your feelings?" Jimmy said as he got in Hanson's face. He seemed to be trying to draw a reaction from Hanson. Crazily enough, it worked. "We've come back before!" Jimmy said. "Remember UCLA last year?" Some murmurs came from the guys who had played in that game. "Remember Houston? And East Carolina? And the Liberty Bowl?" The other players began murmuring, talking about the games from last year.

"Man, that shit was fantastic," said Stevens.

"Exactly," said Jimmy. "We can do it again! We're the fucking underdogs, why can't we come back? It's only ten points, for cryin' out loud!"

"Yeah man, what are we doing?" Jones said. "Feelin' sorry for ourselves."

"Now you're getting there!" said Jimmy. "I know for one, I'm not giving up! No way, no fucking how! They may have knocked me down, but I'm getting back up! Don't you see it? We can beat these assholes!" The players made a resounding yell. Kyo also yelled, Jimmy's speech getting to him. "Thirty minutes! We can do this! THEY CAN'T STOP US! WE! WILL! NOT! LOSE! THOSE BASTARDS HAVEN'T SEEN WHAT WE CAN DO! WE CAN TAKE THEM! WE'LL GET OUT THERE AND WIPE THE TURF WITH THEIR ASSES!"

"_YEAH!_" The team shouted. Even Kyo could not hold back. The team was energized by Jimmy's speech and now O' Leary rose to address the team.

"Alright then," he said. "We're going to have to change our strategy. We're relying too much on the long ball, let's change it up…"

The re-energized Knights came back onto the field at the end of halftime with the UCF crowd still deflated. However, the Knights had an air of confidence that just like before, they could come from behind and beat the mighty Buckeyes.

Too bad they'd have to kick off to the Buckeyes. The crowd was _trying _to get energized as the Knights kicked off, but the Buckeyes had other ideas. Ray Small of the Buckeyes took the ball in the end zone and took off. A collective groan swept through the stadium as Small evaded Knight after Knight and a few hands found their way to the top of some heads. Small broke free and sprinted into the end zone. Again, the air was knocked out of the BHN Stadium crowd and the Buckeye fans were the only ones making noise. Kyo stood on the sideline shaking his head. The score was now 31-14.

"Godammit," said Jimmy. "I give a rousing speech and they waste it! Fuck."

"Don't worry," said O' Leary. "We still have time."

After the Ohio State extra point and kick-off, the Knights came back on the field at the 20-yard line after David Marley took a knee in the endzone. Again, the Knights spread out the offense when they lined up at the line of scrimmage. However, something was different. Kyo was off the field for this particular play and Josh Hanson was in at running back.

SMcD: "_Central Florida again in the spread formation, but Kyo Sohma is off the field, instead it's their star running back Josh Hanson. Let's see what they're up to as Michaels takes the snap."_

Jimmy handed the ball off the Hanson, who took it and ran up the middle. The Buckeye defense managed to get to him after a 5-yard run, though, giving the UCF crowd some energy. The clock kept ticking and the offense took some time to huddle and get the next play.

They lined up in the same formation for the next play and again Jimmy handed the ball off to Hanson. Hanson did a little shake-and-bake and managed to get to the 31-yard line. "_… For a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

SMcD: _"A smart move by UCF to go with their ground game, don't you think?"_

TB: "_Well, when you have little option, you have to. But I like how Hanson's been making the Buckeye defense look like fools."_

UCF lined up in the same formation. The Buckeyes caught on to the Knights' strategy and fortified their defensive line to catch Hanson. Of course, a running play is not what Jimmy called. "HUT!" He took the snap, faked the hand-off and threw a short play action pass to David Marley near the Knights' sideline. He was taken down just short of the first down, now on the 39-yard line.

SMcD: "_Central Florida has indeed changed their strategy; they're going with short yardage instead of large chunks of yards like they had been doing earlier."_

TB: "_When that Ohio State secondary neutralizes your biggest threat, you __have__ to change your strategy. And the Knights seem intent on sticking with it."_

"HUT!" Jimmy took the snap and handed the ball off to Hanson. Again, he danced up the middle and managed to gain five yards before being brought down by Shin. With the next play, the Knights lined up in the same formation. They were intent on keeping that Buckeye offense off the field and help their defense. "Set… HUT!" Jimmy took the snap and dropped back and handed it off to Hanson. Hanson cut through the middle, found an opening and burst through for a large gain. At first, Hanson celebrated, but he heard the words he did not want to hear.

"_We have a penalty marker on the field._" On the sideline, Kyo hoped it wasn't against the Knights, but the referee shattered those hopes.

"Holding, number 45 on the offense; 10-yard penalty, repeat second down." A collective groan swept through the stadium and the Knights' sideline while Jimmy had his hands on his head. What had been a 15-yard gain was neutralized by Desmond Gregory. Now they had a 2nd-and-15 on the 29-yard line.

On the next play Jimmy handed the ball off to Hanson, but he was easily brought down after a two-yard gain by the Ohio State defense. Now Kyo had to be pushed onto the field while Hanson came off. He rushed to get his helmet on as Hanson came off. "Good luck man," said Josh.

"Thanks," said Kyo. He rushed into the huddle while Jimmy called the play.

"On one, on one, ready…"

"_Break!" _They lined up in a spread formation with five receivers. The 3rd-and-13 situation required a passing play and their desperation was evident.

"Down! Set!" Jimmy shouted. Kyo was nervous as he waited for Jimmy to start the play. He almost twitched, but he managed to keep himself from doing so. "HUT!" Charles snapped the ball to Jimmy and he dropped back to pass. The two lines crashed into each other as the receivers took off. Jimmy scrambled out of the pocket with the Ohio State linebackers bearing down on him. He frantically looked for an open receiver and broke for the line of scrimmage but Shin got his arms around his waist and dragged him down before he could even get close.

"FUCK!" He shouted as he banged his fists on the turf. Being subject to four sacks in a game was not something that had happened to him since high school and now Shin had done just that.

"Damn," Kyo said as he walked off and sat on the bench. The Knights were forced to punt again. But this time, things went well. They managed to ground the ball inside the 10-yard line, pinning the Ohio State offense. Now it was time for the defense to put some pressure on Ohio State.

Pryor came on the field with the Buckeye offense with the Knights' defense ready to guard the castle walls. Like the metaphors? They're only going to increase. The Knights defense was in a 3-4 defense, Ohio State in the spread. Prior took the snap and dropped back to pass, throwing to DeVier Posey. However, the Knights defense stopped him before he could get farther. The crowd cheered in response, and there was some applause on the sideline.

It was 2nd-and-five for Ohio State. Pyror took the snap and handed it off to Dan Herron. He had little trouble getting to the 18-yard line, where the first down marker was and extended his body so he could get the first down.

Kyo shook his head. Things were not going well and the Buckeyes were running roughshod over the Knights. Pryor took the snap again and handed it off to Herron again. But this was different and Herron was stuffed at the line of scrimmage. The crowd roared in response, and the Knights sideline erupted, too.

One 2nd-and-10, the Buckeyes tried to throw and got to the one, but the Knights castle held and the safeties brought Sanzenbacher down.

"_It's 3__rd__ and 1, Ohio State!"_ The now-energized crowd began to make more noise. The Buckeyes lined up for a short yardage play. Pryor took the snap and dove for the first down and got it. The Knights' offense had squandered an opportunity to stop the Buckeyes.

But now they were even more determined. With the crowd re-energized, they made as much noise as possible to make Pryor's job a living hell. He took the snap and tried to take it himself but he was stopped by linebacker Harold Reynolds before he even got close to a gain. On 2nd-and-10, he tried to throw but his receiver could only gain five yards before being brought down by a swarm of black-clad defenders.

"_It's third and five, Ohio State!" _Now the crowd noise was practically deafening. Kyo could barely hear anything as he watched Pryor take the snap. He broke for the first down marker but he was swarmed by black-clad defenders and was stuffed right at the line of scrimmage as the crowd roared in response.

Tohru was one of those screaming with bloodlust. It certainly surprised the mild-mannered young lady and she cupped her own mouth when she caught herself. "I take it you've never screamed that way, have you?" Karen said with a laugh. Tohru enthusiastically shook her head in response as Karen chuckled. "You'll get used to it."

SMcD: "_Central Florida makes a big stop on 3__rd__ down, and now they have a chance to get back in this game!"_

Ohio State was forced to punt. The punter kicked deep into the Knights' end of the field to be caught by David Marley. Marley cut right and then left to avoid an incoming Buckeye and was taken down at the 25-yard line.

The Knights offense came out on the field and prepared to go on attack. The referee blew his whistle when the commercial break ended and they got into the huddle, Jimmy calling another spread offense play. The lined up with four receivers and Josh Hanson next to Jimmy in the shotgun. Jimmy took the snap and handed off to Hanson. Hanson took the ball up the middle and was taken down at the 30-yard line.

The Knights lined back up and Jimmy took the snap again. He faked the hand-off to Josh and threw a short play action pass to Oakley. He didn't have far to go and was brought down just after getting the first down, a gain of 6 yards, stopping at the 36-yard line.

"… _Good for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

The Knights lined back in the spread. Wolarski came in at running back this time as Jimmy took the snap. He faked the hand-off to Wolarski and took off himself. He managed to gain a good chunk, 7 yards before being brought down by the Buckeyes at the 43-yard line. The Ohio State defensive players had their hands on their hips as they waited for the Knights to come out of the huddle. Their body language showed they were getting pretty frustrated with the lack of defensive plays.

The Knights again lined up in the same formation. Jimmy took the snap and handed off to Hanson. He went to the left side while the offensive line pushed Ohio State to the right, making a big hole for Hanson to gain a good amount of yards for an easy 10-yard gain.

"… _Good for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!_"

Now the Knights were back in Buckeye territory for the first time in the second half. This slow march was working in the Knights' favor and Kyo looked to see that they had taken a good chunk of time off the clock. There was 7:57 left on the clock and once the referee blew his whistle, the clock began to wind down again.

Jimmy handed it off to Hanson. He cut to the left and was brought down by the Ohio State secondary just short of the line of scrimmage and a loss of 4 yards. Jimmy ran his hand over his helmet in frustration, but O' Leary had a different plan. "I think we should change things up," he said. Jimmy smirked, knowing what O' Leary was talking about and he gave them the plan in the huddle.

The Knights lined up with Wolarski in at running back. The Buckeyes, expecting the rush, crowded the line of scrimmage and their secondary was thinner than usual. Kyo couldn't tell what they were thinking but it must have been ambitious. Jimmy took the snap and scrambled out of the pocket towards the Buckeye sideline. Shin followed in hot pursuit, but he heaved the ball downfield to Josh Stevens. He easily made the catch and was forced out-of-bounds at the 19-yard line to the roar of the crowd.

"_Gain of 32 yards, enough for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

SMcD: _"And now the Knights are within striking distance, getting into the red zone for the first time since the first quarter."_

TB: "_Classic deception by Central Florida. All those short-yardage plays and then they go for the long yardag_e. _I wasn't expecting this kind of lapse from Ohio State at all._"

The clock was close to the 5-minute mark, under 6 minutes to play. The Knights lined up in the same formation again, but the receivers shifted. Marley was on the far right, Josh Stevens on the far left and Jim Oakley on the near right. Jimmy took the snap and handed the ball to Hanson. Hanson cut to the right and then right back to the left but was tripped up and fell to the ground at the 15-yard line, a respectable gain.

"We're getting there," said Karen when Maggie returned.

"Ye call this a strategy?" She asked.

"Pretty much," said Karen. "You can tell the Buckeyes are having difficulties."

"I think they might be getting frustrated," said Yuki.

"I don't think it's a 'might be'," said Karen. "It's more of 'they are' getting frustrated."

"Why isn't Kyo in?" Tohru asked. "Shouldn't he be in there?"

"I think that O' Leary's putting in the people he thinks are the best," said Karen. "Kyo isn't exactly the best player on the team, although he might be the fastest. Oh, speak of the devil, he's in right now."

Kyo rushed onto the field as Josh Stevens came off the field, allowing Kyo to come in at receiver. Stevens gave him a pat on the back as he ran into the huddle as Jimmy gave them the play. "Ready…"

"_Break!_"

The Knights lined up in the same formation (a pretty limited formation book) with Kyo in at the near left. Hanson was in next to Jimmy at running back and Jimmy called out the play. "HUT HUT!" Kyo took off into the end zone and Jimmy dropped back, faking the hand-off to Hanson. Jimmy threw a play-action pass to Jim Oakley at the 8-yard line.

"… _Good for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

"Alright guys," said Jimmy. "Let's go for the end zone." He gave them the play and they broke the huddle. They lined up in a similar formation, but with Kyo on the far right this time. "DOWN! SET!" Kyo licked his lips. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next and he could feel his heart racing. "HUT!" Kyo broke for the end zone and the two offensive lines crashed into each other. Jimmy faked the hand-off to Hanson and threw a play action pass to Jim Oakley. Oakley caught the ball and easily ran into the end zone.

SMcD: _Touchdown, Central Florida! The Knights are right back in it, it's 31-20 pending the extra point!_"

The crowd roared when Oakley trotted into the north end zone. The Illinois receiver soaked it up and bowed to the crowd before he was mobbed by his teammates. Jim Tressel could be seen a little frustrated on the Buckeye sideline while O' Leary pumped his fist in celebration. Kyo also joined in, patting Oakley on the helmet.

The field goal team came on and tacked on the extra point, brining it to 31-21, cutting the deficit back to 10. The sideline was energized and so was the crowd. Only 4 minutes left in the third quarter and down by ten points is a good reason to be confident.

Of course, during the commercial break, they learned they had a very special person in the audience. The jumbotron fixated on one guy in the audience that Jimmy happened to recognize. He smiled and laughed when he saw who it was. "Holy shit," he said. "That's Dwight Howard!"

"Man, Dwight Howard's here?" Jones asked.

"Who's he?" asked Kyo.

"He plays for the Magic," said Jimmy. The UCF band even got in the act and began playing the "Superman" fanfare. Howard got up, posed like Superman and saluted the crowd before sitting down.

The Knights kicked off to the Buckeyes and Ray Small took it out of the end zone. However, he was brought down just short of the 20-yard line as the crowd roared in response. Now energized too, Kyo pumped his fist as Small was taken down and the Buckeye offense trotted out onto the field after the commercial break ended.

The Buckeyes went with the spread formation, just like the Knights. Pryor took the snap, faked the hand-off to Herron and threw to DeVier Posey but he was brought down just short of the first down. The UCF crowd cheered in response. The once-confident Buckeye fans were now the more nervous ones, while the Knights fans had a refill of confidence and made as much noise as possible to rattle Pryor.

Pryor took the snap and ran to the Buckeye sideline while linebacker George Rooney chased him out-of-bounds at the 27-yard line. Again, a roar swept through the UCF crowd and the Knights sideline reacted just the same.

The Buckeyes looked frustrated as Tressel and the rest of the sideline gave Pyror some signals. Kyo couldn't tell what they were but it must have been ambitious. "_It's third and 2 Ohio State!" _The PA announcer bellowed. The UCF crowd rose to their feet and cheered like mad. Pyror barked his orders and took the snap. The two lines crashed into each other and Pryor sprinted forward, getting past the first down marker. The UCF fans quieted down for a few moments while the Buckeye fans cheered.

Kyo bit his nails. The Buckeyes still had a fantastic offense and they were displaying this offense against the Knights, breaching the castle walls with each play. He watched Pryor take the snap. He dropped back and threw to Dane Sanzenbacher. However, the ball was ripped out of his hands and the referee whistled the ball incomplete. Again, the crowd roared. The Knights sideline erupted, Jimmy even jumping onto the field and shouting, "THERE WE GO! THERE WE FUCKIN' GO!"

Now on second down, the Buckeyes lined up back in the spread. Pryor took the snap and faked the hand-off to Herron only to throw to Ray Small. He cut left to avoid a UCF cornerback and broke for the first down marker, but was cut short of the first down. Again, the crowd noise increased and the Knights had another chance to stop the charge. "_It's third and 4, Ohio State!" _Kyo looked up at the clock to see it get down to one minute remaining in the quarter.

The fans rose to their feet. The jumbotrons urged the fans to make noise, even showing a noise meter to encourage them. The team got in the act, urging people to make noise. The crowd level was incredible as Pryor took the snap.

He broke to the left, towards the Knights sideline and dove for the first down. The line judge signaled that Pryor had indeed got the first down and signaled for it. "Fuck," said Kyo. The Buckeyes were still running over the Knights' defense and making it difficult for them.

However, there was less than a minute left in the quarter. All Ohio State needed to do was just run a ground play for short yardage for the clock to start running down. The Buckeyes did not run another play and let the clock run out for the fourth quarter.

SMcD: "_And that's the end of the third quarter. The Buckeyes extend their lead, but Central Florida comes roaring back to cut the lead back down to ten. We'll see if the Knights can stage a full counter-attack in the fourth quarter, it's 31-21 Ohio State. We'll be back from Orlando right after this."_

:-:-:-:-:

To be continued.


	9. Tonight Our Knights Will Shine

SMcD: _"We're back here at Bright House Networks Stadium for the fourth quarter; Ohio State leads Central Florida 31-21. It's now 2__nd__-and-6 from the Ohio State 39-yard line, the Buckeyes are looking to get back into UCF territory."_

The Buckeyes lined up in a spread formation. The 49,000 fans at the Bright House screamed at the top of their lungs to rattle Ohio State's quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Even the Knights' sideline got in the act, urging to crowd to get loud. Pryor barked out his signals to the Buckeyes while the Knights' defense shifted (legally) hoping to get Pryor off guard. Pryor called for the snap and took it himself. He ran for the line of scrimmage. The Buckeye offensive line pushed the Knights D-line to the left hash mark and Pryor followed. The Knights' defense however, busted through and linebacker Leon Holmes crashed into Pryor and brought him down for a two-yard loss. The crowd roared and the Knights' sideline joined in. Now it was 3rd-and-8 with the clock ticking. Jimmy climbed up on one of the benches and swung a towel to get the crowd into the game.

It was incredibly hard to hear anything going on in the stadium. The Buckeyes line dup on the 37-yard line on the right hash mark near their bench on the east side. Although no one could see it, Pryor was starting to sweat in anxiousness. This clearly hostile environment was indeed starting to rattle the sophomore quarterback. His jitters were catching up to him (one of the reasons he's considered overrated is because, well, you're about to find out). He took the snap and dropped back to pass. The UCF defense blitzed much to Pryor's shock. He panicked and threw the ball to Dane Sanzenbacher. However, the ball was under thrown and landed incomplete, drawing a loud roar from the UCF fans.

"That's why I think he's overrated!" Jimmy shouted to Kyo over the loud noise of the crowd. "He has a habit of panicking under intense pressure! He's athletic and all. But his head isn't in the game!"

"And you can?" Kyo asked.

"Hey, we're comeback kids aren't we?" Jimmy asked as he went to warm up his arm.

Ohio State was forced to punt for just the second time tonight. Kyo could see a very frustrated Pryor coming off the field as the Buckeyes lined up the punt. The punter sent it deep towards the north end zone where Josh Stevens was waiting. Stevens caught the ball and took a knee for the touchback. The Knights would line up on their own 20-yard line.

After the commercial break the Knights trotted out onto the field, ready for the counter-attack. They broke the huddle and lined up in another spread formation with Hanson to Jimmy's left. He surveyed the defense, looking for holes. "DOWN! SET!" The volume in the stadium decreased so the offense could hear Jimmy's calls and signals. He took the snap from Jones and handed off to Josh Hanson. Hanson broke to the right near the Knights' sideline and managed to gain three yards before being forced out of bounds.

Next the Knights lined up in a variation of the previous formation with tight end Henry Thompson on the left of the line of scrimmage. It was only three wide receivers and Roger Wolarski in at running back. Jimmy shouted out the signals and Marley shifted from the right side to the left. Jimmy took the snap and handed the ball off to Wolarski. He bore through the Ohio State defensive line like a drill and kept going until he was tripped up by Seijiro Shin just short of the first down.

Now on 3rd-and-2, the Knights lined up in the same formation as the first play from scrimmage. They lined up on the right hash mark near their sideline. The crowd started to get louder. But it was still quiet enough for the Knights to hear Jimmy bark his orders. Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy. Jimmy faked the hand off to Hanson and took off himself towards the Knights sideline. The Buckeyes managed to catch on to this and Shin went straight for Jimmy. However, he was too late as Jimmy easily passed the first down marker to the roar of the crowd. He got up and made the first down sign while the officials moved the chains.

"_Gain of 4 on the play, good for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

:-:-:-:-:

Back in Glasgow…

"Hey! Could you change it back to ESPN2?" Scott said to the bartender.

"Ya weren't happy with the game earlier, why are ye askin' now?" The bartender replied.

"I just checked the score on my cell phone and I think UCF might be coming back," he replied. "Now can you please change it back?"

"Och, all right," he said. "I only do it cuz yer're Scott Michaels."

"Exactly," said Scott. The bartender changed the channel and Scott pumped his fist when Jimmy got the first down. Tai strained to see the score.

"So it's 31-21," he said. "You actually think they can win?"

"Jimmy's on a good team," said Scott. "I think they can win."

"You'd better hope they do," said Tai. "Wait, who are you texting?"

"My mom and dad," said Scott. "They should be watching this game, but I'm going to remind them. They can be a little absent-minded at times."

:-:-:-:-:

Back in Orlando…

The Knights lined up back in a spread on their own 32-yard line. The clock began counting down again while Jimmy barked out his orders. Kyo shifted to the left side of the field, putting 3 receivers on that side. "HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy. He faked the hand-off to Hanson and then three a short toss to him down the right side of the field. Hanson caught the ball and ran down the sideline, cutting up the middle before being brought down by Shin after a gain of 4 yards.

Jimmy watched the sideline for signals. They gave him instructions and he relayed that to the team in the huddle. "Ready…"

"_Break!"_

On 2nd-and-6 from their 36 the Knights lined up back in the spread. The receivers were evenly distributed by 2 on each side of the line of scrimmage. The Buckeyes prepared for the run, fortifying the defensive line. Wolarski was in the game next to Jimmy. In the shotgun, Jimmy barked out his commands. "HUT!" Charles snapped to Jimmy. Both lines crashed into each other and Jimmy handed off to Wolarski. Roger burst up the middle, breaking a tackle by one of the Ohio State defensive linemen but was brought down by Seijiro Shin. Shin was making his presence known to the Knights. But Wolarski was able to gain another 5 yards, bringing it to 3rd-and-1.

The question now was whether to run or throw. Jimmy waited for the instructions before heading back to the huddle. He gave them the play before breaking the huddle. Hanson came in at running back. Jimmy barked his orders to the players. The Buckeyes showed blitz. Jimmy tried to keep himself calm. However, he noticed the play clock was running out and he made a "T" sign to the ref. The ref blew his whistle.

"Time out, Central Florida; that's their first time out of the half."

"What the hell happened out there?" O' Leary said as Jimmy came over to the sideline.

"Don't think we would have gotten the play off," said Jimmy. "I was not going to take a Delay of Game penalty." O' Leary nodded his head in response.

"Luckily for us they have 2 time-outs left, too," said O' Leary. The Buckeyes had taken a time-out in the third quarter. "Alright then, let's try this."

When they came out of the time-out lined up in the same formation. The Buckeyes showed blitz again. Since they had just come out of a time-out, the Knights didn't have to worry about the play clock. "DOWN! SET!" Kyo watched from the sideline. He wished he could be back out there but the coaches made their decision and he was the odd man out. "HUT!" Jones snapped to Jimmy and he handed the ball to Hanson. Hanson cut straight for the line of scrimmage. The Buckeyes crowded the line but the skilled running back reached for the first down. He was tackled by an Ohio State de-liner right at the 42-yard line. "Damn," said Jimmy. The officials would have to bring out the measuring chains.

:-:-:-:-:

We now shift focus to a quiet house in Kaibara. A middle-aged man, Kazuma Sohma was just sitting down to have his Sunday tea when he received a strange phone call. Being polite he answered it. "Hello?" He asked.

"Are you Kazuma Sohma?" The voice on the other end asked.

"Yes, and who is this?"

"My name is Sadaharu Fuji," he said. "I taught your nephew how to play American football."

"Oh, I've heard of you," said Kazuma. "He's told me about you."

"He's playing on television right now in America," said Fuji. "Turn on Gaora Sports, that's the channel the game is on." Kazuma shrugged and turned to Gaora. The current situation was displayed on the TV and Kazuma could see Kyo on the field. "He's on there?"

"He's already scored one touchdown," said Fuji. Obviously he knew more about the game than Kazuma did, but he assumed it was good. "And it was a beauty."

"I guess I'll call some of the other Sohmas," said Kazuma. "They'll want to know what's going on."

He called Shigure, who agreed to turn it on. He also called Haru, Rin, Momiji, Ritsu and Kureno. "So wait, Orange Top's on TV?" Uo asked after Kureno just told her that.

"That's what Kazuma said," Kureno replied. "I guess we'll check." Sure enough, there they were.

:-:-:-:-:

The tension in the stadium was thick. Measuring for a first down is a very nerve-wracking moment in a football game, especially in the fourth quarter. The officials brought the measuring chain out to the near hash mark, where the ball was. The Knights players gestured for the first down while the Buckeyes did not. They extended the chains, right where the ball was. The officials looked and…

… Signaled for the first down.

The crowd roared as the Knights now had new life. With a fresh set of downs and a full tank of confidence, the Knights lined back up in the spread. Kyo came back out and Hanson stayed in next to Jimmy. Jimmy lined up in the shotgun. "DOWN! SET!" The Buckeye defense showed blitz. Their linebackers crowded the line of scrimmage, ready to rush Jimmy as soon as Jones snapped the ball.

"HUT!" Jones snapped the ball and the Buckeyes rushed Jimmy. However, it turned out to be another run play as Jimmy handed the ball to Josh Hanson. He cut to the outside, the left hash mark and the Buckeyes had trouble stopping him. However, Chimdi Chekwa got to him on time and brought him down just short of the first down.

However, the Knights were now at midfield in 2nd-and-2 situation. Kyo stayed on the field while Jimmy got his orders from the sideline. "Okay guys, we're going to shake things up a bit." He gave them the play. Kyo nodded as he listened intently. He checked the clock and noticed that there was just over 11 minutes to play. "Ready…"

"_Break!_"

They broke the huddle and lined up in a similar formation, but still of the spread variety. The Buckeyes, expecting a rushing play, crowded the line of scrimmage to stop Hanson, who was still in the game. However, when Jimmy looked at the defense, he smirked. Their secondary was thinner than usual.

"HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy. He faked the hand-off to Hanson and then scrambled out of the pocket to the near side. The Buckeyes were still under the assumption that Hanson had the ball. They were in for a rude awakening when Jimmy threw downfield. Byron Johnson made the catch and the Buckeyes realized too late they'd been tricked. Johnson had no one to stop him and he sprinted down the field.

SMcD: "_Michaels, throws to Johnson—complete! He's free! Johnson could go all the way! He's at the 30, the 20, 15, 10, 5, TOUCHDOWN, CENTRAL FLORIDA!"_

Johnson skipped into the end zone and spiked the ball on the field. The crowd was going absolutely ballistic. Johnson flexed his muscles, nodding his head in front of the mosh pit-like student section.

So how did the Knights easily beat the Buckeyes' secondary? The Knights had used the run so much that Ohio State got used to it and lined up to defend the rush. In expecting the run, the Buckeyes had neglected the pass. The game of American football has been described to me as "the ultimate chess game". The idea is to trick the opponent so you can gain as much as you can on them. The Buckeyes clearly fell for UCF's trickery.

They had taken the bait. And now they paid dearly.

SMcD: "_We said hold on, and we were right! Central Florida is back in this game and pending the extra point or a field goal from tying this game or a touchdown from taking the lead!"_

:-:-:-:-:

In Glasgow, a nervous Scott watched the play unfold. When he saw that Johnson had free ranger, he perked up and willed Johnson on. "Go! Go! GO!" He shouted as he got up from his seat. When Johnson crossed the goal line, he erupted. "YEEEAAAHHH! YEEEAAAHHH, BABY! THERE WE GO! THERE WE GO, JIMMY!"

"Who's Jimmy?" A girl at the bar next to him said.

"That's my little bro!" Scott said as he pointed to the screen. "My little bro's on TV! HEY! My little bro's on! A round of drinks for everybody on me!" The crowd cheered, more in celebration of the free drinks than for Scott's little brother. But then again, some of the other patrons began to take notice.

:-:-:-:-:

Northfield, Illinois…

"I just got a text from Scott," said Mrs. Bridget Michaels, the mother of Jimmy and Scott. "He said we have to turn to Jimmy's—oh, damn, I forgot." She didn't look bad for a woman of her age of 48. She had brown hair just like Jimmy and Scott, her two sons. She was also petite, which she worked on.

"It's not my fault!" He husband Bob said as he came into the TV room. "Big Bob", as he was called by other sports writers like him, kind of looked like Jimmy and Scott, but he had thinner hair and wore glasses. He had a smaller frame than the two on account of not being an athlete. He was the same age as Bridget. "I reminded you about the game."

"Well you reminded me on Friday!" She shot back. To be clear, they're still very much in love and have been happily married for years. This is just a little lapse like all couples have.

"We should still be able to catch the game," said Bob as he turned to ESPN2. They were just in time to catch Johnson's touchdown and like the rest of the stadium, went mad.

:-:-:-:-:

Gary Hoover added the extra point to bring the Knights within three. The score was now 31-28 and the place was _rockin'._

SMcD: "_They just started playing Zombie Nation and this whole place began to jump up and down. No, your TV is not malfunctioning, the stadium is just vibrating in fact, we can feel it here in the press box! _"

The Knights prepared to kick off to the Buckeyes. Hoover placed the ball on the tee and signaled to the referee that he was ready. The ref blew his whistle, the Knights ran forward and Hoover sent a high, end-over-end kick to Ray Small in the end zone. Small caught the ball and raced out of the end zone, but was brought down at the 15-yard line, soliciting a roar from the crowd.

The Buckeyes came on the field after the commercial break. Pryor took the snap and handed the ball off to Daniel Herron. He didn't get far and was brought down after a 3-yard gain. The crowd quieted and Jimmy's smile turned into a worried look. The Buckeyes weren't trying to overrun the Knights defense. Instead, they were going short. Jimmy could come up with only one conclusion. "Oh, no. They're running out the clock."

"What?" Kyo asked.

"It's a strategy employed by teams who are in the lead," he replied. "They just run the ball and let the clock run down. It looks like Ohio State's doing that to us. Fuck."

The Buckeyes continued with this strategy, going with short gains. There was the occasional burst, but it was usually a defensive lapse by the Knights. It was slow and every time the Buckeyes pounded it in, the Knights fans became more and more nervous. It was as if the Buckeyes were punishing the Knights for their insolence in trying to knock them off. How dare these C-USA fools defeat the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes? They inched closer and closer to the end zone. One more touchdown and the Buckeyes would be out of reach for the Knights. The fans watched in nervousness and despair. Their hopes of the greatest win in UCF football history dimmed with each passing second.

The Buckeyes crossed midfield for the first time since the beginning of the half. There was about five minutes left and they were still letting the clock run out. UCF took an ill-advised time-out just to stop the bleeding. All across the stadium you could see the faces of the UCF fans. They once boisterous crowd had once again been silenced by the mighty Buckeyes. No matter how loud they got on 3rd down, it didn't matter. The Buckeyes had control of the game. Kyo hung his head on the sideline and watched his team struggle to stop the Buckeyes.

Soon, they were in the red zone. For some reason, the Buckeyes started going for longer plays. They must have decided to finish the job against the Knights and score one more time. Pryor handed the ball off to Daniel Herron and he pounded up the middle to give the Buckeyes the first-and-goal at the 7-yard line.

By now, the fans had enough and began to take action. The scoreboard urged them to make noise. The volume level in the stadium increased as the fans started to yell. The Knights' sideline also got in the act, urging fans to get fucking _LOUD. _The student section became a borderline trampoline as the students bounced on their bleachers. Parents, old ladies and general fans screamed at the Buckeyes, trying to rattle them. There was less than 5 minutes left, getting close to 4. Pryor tried to shut the volume out of his head, but the sheer volume was getting to him. Panicking, he took a time-out.

The fans groaned in disappointment, but it didn't matter. "Kernkraft 400" started back up and the place went crazy. Everybody chanted along, Tohru and Yuki included. The Knights sideline also bounced, like in previous plays. The man who would come on the field while the TV took a break did not come on the field, meaning they had decided to stay with the action. And why would they? It's a tight game.

The time-out ended and the noise only increased. People screamed at the top of their lungs and banged on the metal seats. The now-nervous Pryor tried to concentrate with all the noise going on around him. His heart was pounding and his palms sweating. He started the play and took the snap. Instead of dropping back to pass, he just took a quick throw to Dane Sanzenbacher. However, the ball never got to him and it landed incomplete. The crowd roared in response. The clock showed less than 4 minutes left.

The Buckeyes lined up back in the spread. The Knights showed blitz, ready to not only defend the castle, but go on the offensive, too. Pryor took the snap and looked to pass. Suddenly, George Rooney burst through the Buckeyes' offensive line. Pryor could only watch in horror with his eyes wide as dinner plates as Rooney charged him. Rooney slammed into him, lifted him up and threw him to the ground like in rugby.

The place exploded. "_George Rooney with the sack! Loss of 7 on the play!" _Some of the players Jimmy and Kyo included spilled out onto the field as Rooney shouted to the sky. A dazed Pryor called for a timeout.

"Timeout, Ohio State; that's their final timeout." The energized crowd began bouncing to Kernkraft 400. The stadium began to vibrate again as the fans bounced up and down. There was a feeling among the fans that this was where the valiant Knights would make their stand.

In the student section, Karen, Tohru and Yuki bounced as well. Maggie, however, recognized Rooney's name and recognized his face on the jumbotron. "George Rooney?" She said. "Och, damn, I know who he is."

"Who is he?" Karen shouted over the noise.

"He played fly-half fer England!" Maggie shouted. Karen was confused. "He played fer the England rugby team! My dad hated him because he would be a pain in Scotland's arse during the Six Nations Tournament! I wonder what he's doin' here?"

"Playing linebacker!" Karen replied. That one was obvious, as Maggie had to concede that.

With Ohio State's third down, the tension and atmosphere only got thicker. The crowd, fully energized was going to make noise; there was no need to encourage them. The timeout lasted longer than expected, but it didn't matter.

When they came out of the time out, they got louder. They jumped up and down, screamed, whistled, banged on Thunderstix, waved their rally towels and just tried to make life a living hell for Pryor. And it seemed to work too. Pryor was sweating under his helmet and could barely concentrate as the Buckeyes lined up with the Knights ready to blitz. Pyror shouted the calls out as loud as he could, but he wasn't sure if they could hear him.

He took the snap and got ready to pass. Rooney blitzed and charged him. Panicking, Pryor threw to DeVier Posey in the end zone. The fans held their breath as Pyror's pass flew threw the air. Jimmy bit his lip and Kyo raised his arms. Tohru could barely even watch. Posey reached for the ball and was ready to make the catch that would finish the Knights off.

Too bad the ball was terribly under thrown.

A Knights cornerback stepped in and caught the ball. He fell to the ground and the place exploded.

SMcD: "_Pryor's pass is… PICKED OFF! Central Florida has their first turnover of the night and it may be the biggest!"_

Marc Daniels: "_KEVIN FINCH WITH THE INTERCEPTION! THE KNIGHTS HAVE A CHANCE TO PULL OFF THE UPSET!"_

The place was going insane. People were hugging each other in the stands and jumping up and down. This included Yuki, Karen and Tohru. The defense ran back to the sideline while the offense trotted out, Kyo included. Jimmy lingered, talking to O' Leary. "Two minute drill! You know what to do!"

"Got it!" said Jimmy. "My time to shine!" There was indeed 2 minutes left. Jimmy trotted out and addressed his teammates in the huddle. "Two minute drill, guys! This is it! This is where we beat them!" He gave them the play. "Ready…"

"_Break!"_

The Knights lined up on their 20-yard line in the spread. Hanson was not on the field. Instead all five receivers, Byron Johnson, David Marley, Oakley, Kyo and Stevens were lined up. Jimmy barked out his orders to his teammates. The Buckeye defense prepared for the play. The crowd did not make noise, allowing the receivers to hear Jimmy. "HUT!" Jimmy took the snap and the receivers took off. The offensive line held, giving Jimmy time in the pocket. He threw to David Marley at the 31-yard line. He caught the ball and fell to the ground.

"_Gain of 11 yards, good for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

Jimmy rushed to the 31 while the referees reset the chains. The Knights would not huddle up, going with the aptly-named no-huddle offense. Jimmy instead audibled (changing the play at the line of scrimmage). "HUT!" He took the snap and threw to Oakley. He was short of the first down so he stepped out of bounds near the Knights sideline for a gain of 8.

Stepping out of bounds stopped the clock, allowing the Knights to huddle up and call the play. They quickly broke the huddle, though (They're on the twp-minute offense and they need all the precious seconds they can get). The game clock showed 1:15. Jimmy barked out his commands. "HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy. He took it himself and rushed for the first down, crossing to the 41-yard line and slid to avoid a tackle.

"_Gain of 2 yard, good for a UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

The Knights rushed to line up. They got set and Jimmy audibled the play. Kyo flexed his fingers, waiting for Jimmy to start the play. "HUT!" Jimmy took the snap and threw to David Marley. Marley cut left and broke for the Ohio State 40-yard line. He was brought down by a Buckeye cornerback.

"_Gain of 19 yards, good for UCF—"_

"_FIRST DOWN!"_

As soon as they lined up, Jimmy took the snap and spiked the ball (throwing the ball to the ground to stop the clock). The clock stopped at 40 seconds. "Damn!" Jimmy said to himself.

In Glasgow, Scott's eyes were glued to the TV screen. He only even broke out when the Knights got the first down and their fast offense was doing the job. He breathed a sigh of relief when Jimmy spiked the ball. "What as tha' fer?" One bar patron asked. Actually, the entire bar was watching the game now, thanks to Scott.

"Stops the clock," said Scott. "Unfortunately, they've got 2nd-and-10 and if they screw up… it's over."

"So what happens now?" Kazuma asked over the phone.

"_Now UCF has to get the ball into the red zone, which starts at the 20-yard line. If they're safe, they go for the field goal, which is 3 points and ties the game. If they go for the touchdown, they get 6 points and win the game," _said Fuji.

"What happens if they get the field goal?" Kurena asked.

"They go to overtime," said Arisa. "And they might not even win there."

"That sounds… good," said Kureno.

"I wonder if Kyo can do this," said Momiji.

"If we know anything about him, he can definitely do it," said Hatsuharu.

"And no one here knows him better than Haru," said Rin.

"Do you think they can do it?" Bridget asked her husband.

"It's Jimmy," said Bob. "They can definitely do it."

"I know they can," said Karen.

"Let's hope you're right," said Yuki.

"She's right," said Tohru. "They can do it!"

"We're going for the end zone," said Jimmy.

"Got it," said Jones.

"Ready…"

"_Break!" _

The Knights lined back in the spread on the Buckeyes' 40. Jimmy looked over the Buckeyes' defense. They were certainly prepared for the pass. They weren't going to fall for the run this time. Jimmy took a deep breath through his nostrils. "DOWN! SET!" The crowd watched in anticipation. No one had left, they all stayed. No one was sitting down, either. They watched in nervous anticipation as the play clock wound down.

"HUT!" Jones snapped the ball to Jimmy. The receivers took off and Jimmy dropped back. The offensive line held, giving Jimmy time. However, Seijiro Shin broke through and chased down Jimmy. He quickly scrambled for the Knights' sideline. Right in front of the sideline he through to the endzone and moved out of Shin's way.

The ball cut through the air in a perfect spiral. The receivers were already in the endzone, waiting for the ball to get to them. Jimmy raised his arms, hoping that one of them might catch it. Stevens, who was the closest one to where the ball's trajectory, jumped to catch the ball while surrounded by Buckeye defenders. He reached for the ball in an effort to catch it. The crowd held their breath as well as the Michaels and Sohmas. Stevens reached—

But an Ohio State defender tipped it and it landed incomplete.

A groan swept through the stadium. Jimmy threw his head back and groaned. In Glasgow, the bar's patrons groaned too, even Bob and Bridget, Kazuma, Hatsuharu, Rin, Momiji, Arisa and Kureno. Karen shook her head and Tohru peeked out from her fingers. "Did we win?"

"No," said Karen. "It's incomplete."

A frustrated O' Leary decided there was only one option. He made a "T" gesture with his hands to the referee. He blew his whistle and signaled for the timeout. "Timeout; UCF; it's their final timeout." Jimmy and the rest of the offense walked over to O' Leary.

"Alright," he said as they gather around him. "Let's go for the field goal. We'll get them in overtime."

"No!" O' Leary looked at Jimmy.

"No? Why 'no', Michaels?"

"We should be going for the win," said Jimmy. O' Leary looked at him as if to say, 'go on'. Kyo listened intently. "We go for the touchdown, and then the extra point. If we do this right, we'll have less than 5-10 seconds left. We put the pressure on them and force them to return the kick. If we go for the field goal, they'll just take a knee and then go for overtime and they can still win there."

"Michaels, you're actually going for this?" O' Leary asked trying to verify if Jimmy was serious.

"Coach, you know damn well I can make that throw," said Jimmy. "Just give me the chance!" O' Leary looked at Jimmy before deciding.

"All right then," he said. "We go for the end zone. Here's what we should do."

Seconds later, the Knights trotted back on the field to the applause of the crowd. They lined up in the spread again. But this time, they were going to go for the end zone. The crowd cheered, but only in encouragement. Jimmy overlooked the defense. "DOWN! SET!" Kyo waited nervously as Jimmy shouted his orders. "HUT!"

Jones snapped the ball and he dropped back to pass. The receivers took off for the end zone and the offensive line held the Buckeyes. Jimmy looked for anyone to pass to. In the stadium, bars, houses, all over, they watched Jimmy find his man and heave the ball downfield. All the receiver had to do was catch it.

Kyo sprinted down the field, shaking off a Buckeye defender. He got to the endzone and turned around to see the ball headed for him. He stopped at the one-yard line where he thought the ball was going to get to him. All he could think about was the ball. He watched it get closer and closer. He had to time the jump right in order to catch it. He waited as it cut to him. Then he jumped and reached for it.

In Glasgow, the bar patrons held their breaths. Kazuma silently prayed. Hatsuharu, Rin and Momiji got close to the TV. Arisa and Kureno held each other, as did Bob and Bridget. Tohru held her breath, Karen jumped, and Yuki just watched. Jimmy jumped, thinking they had got it. Everyone in the stadium held their breath.

Kyo reached, his arms feeling like silly putty. He urged them to catch. The ball came it and he placed his thumbs together. The ball struck his hand and he closed his hands. Then, remembering Fuji's words, he pulled the ball in.

He landed right on the one-yard line. The very nervous UCF fans hoped he wouldn't drop it. However, he somehow lost his footing and fell backwards. He shut his eyes and held the ball close as he hit the ground. He looked to see the paint of one of the letters. Then, he snapped back to reality and he saw the referee hold his arms up. Touchdown.

The stadium exploded.

SMcD: "_TOUCHDOWN, CENTRAL FLORIDA! True freshman Kyo Sohma makes the catch!"_

MD: "_SOHMA MAKES THE CATCH; THE KNIGHTS TAKE THE LEAD WITH 3 SECONDS REMAINING! THIS COULD BE THE BIGGEST PLAY IN UCF HISTORY!"_

Jimmy saw Kyo fall to the ground and rushed to the end zone. He jumped and skipped in pure exhilaration. The crowd was deafening. The place was vibrating and people were hugging each other in the aisles. He reached the end zone where the other players were mobbing Kyo.

In Glasgow, once Kyo hit the ground, they exploded, Scott especially. He jumped up on the bar pointing at the screen while the place turned into utter chaos. "THAT'S MY BRO! THAT'S MY LITTLE BRO, RIGHT THERE! HAHAHA! YEAH, JIMMY!"

In Kaibara, Kazuma kept his restraint. He just smiled as he was proud of his nephew. At the same time, Haru, Momiji and Rin were going crazy, so let's just leave at that.

In Northfield, Bob and Bridget were hugging each other. They were so proud of Jimmy it was beyond words.

In Orlando, Karen and Tohru were hugging each other so hard they were almost suffocating. Of course, they let up, but there was no way they'd stop going crazy. Yuki just smiled. He had to admit that Kyo finally beat him at something. The rest of the stadium was in pandemonium.

Kyo was at the bottom of an insane dog pile. He almost felt crushed because of the combined weight of his teammates. However, they recognized the problem and got off of him. It was then he heard the crowd cheering—for _him._ He broke into a wide smile and waved to the crowd as he trotted off the field.

Ah, but now comes the problem. They still had 3 seconds left on the clock. Gary Hoover would have to kick it so that it did not land in the end zone. They would then have to stop the same Buckeye special teams that had scored on them earlier. But now they had the lead, and once Hoover tacked on the extra point, a 4-point lead. Ohio State would have to score the touchdown.

The energized crowd continued to bounce once "Kernkraft" started playing. The students were the most energized, and had they been closer to the field, would be preparing to rush it. Hoover placed the ball on the tee and the crowd began to yell. That was all they could do now was hope the Knights could stop the Buckeyes. Hoover signaled to the referee, rushed forward and sent a high, end-over-end kick to Ray Small.

Small caught the ball at the 4-yard line. He had no choice but to run forward. He dodged a few Knights before tossing the ball to DeVier Posey near the Buckeyes sideline. He ran forward and tossed it to someone lese. The fans watched as the clock ticked down to zero. The Buckeyes were still alive, though.

But then, Posey was hit hard and the ball was knocked lose. There was a battle for it as several players dove for it. The fans held their breaths and exploded when the Knights came up with the fumble.

MD: "_KNIGHTS WIN! KNIGHTS WIN! KNIGHTS WIN! 35-31, UCF! THIS IS THE BIGGEST WIN IN PROGRAM HISTORY!"_

SMcD: "_Central Florida makes the comeback of the year and they knock off the #2 Ohio State Buckeyes!"_

"WE DID IT! HOLY SHIT, WE FUCKIN' DID IT!" Jimmy shouted as he and the others ran onto the field. It was utter pandemonium in the stands as the fans celebrated the biggest win in UCF history. Flanked by two Florida state cops, O' Leary went out to midfield and shook hands with Tressel while his team celebrated by hugging each other.

In Glasgow, Scott just cheered for his brother's team. In Kaibara, Kazuma smiled while Rin, Momiji and Haru just hugged each other, the same with Arisa and Kureno, and Bob and Bridget. Karen and Tohru hugged each other and Tohru was nearly crying.

While Jimmy shook hands with Pryor, Kyo shook hands with the other Buckeyes. He could hardly contain himself at the moment and just wanted to celebrate. When they finished, the Knights ran over to the cheering student section. Some were against the railings to congratulate the players. They gathered in front of the students and sang the alma mater before the band played the fight song.

Singing the fight song, Kyo got a sense of the moment. This was a good team beating an incredible team. They had pulled off a huge upset! An unranked team beating the second-best team in the country? Of course it's big! And he might as well enjoy it as the fight song ended and the Knights' new victory song, "Chelsea Dagger", started playing.

:-:-:-:-:

End chapter


End file.
